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SOLD    BY 

THOMAS    BAKER, 


72.      TVP1W1W  A  TVT 


-• 


/ 

DODD'S 


-.     IS.- 


CHURCH    HISTORY 


OF 


ENGLAND 


FROM  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 
TO  THE  REVOLUTION  IN   1688. 


flotes,  $tottitions,  antJ  a  Continuation 


BY 


THE  REV.  M.  A.  TIERNEY,  F.S.A. 


Beal  attached  to  Bull  con- 
ferrmS  the  title  of  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  on  Henry  VIII. 


LONDON : 
PUBLISHED   BY  CHARLES   DOLMAN, 

(NEPHEW  AND  SUCCESSOR  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  BOOKER) 

No.  61,  NEW  BOND  STREET. 


MDCCCXXXIX. 


LONDON: 

C.  RICHARDS,  1'RINTKR.  1(X).  ST.  WAETI-XS  LANK,  (  HAKIX(i 


Cttte.] 


THE 


C  HURCH    H  ISTO  RY 

OF 

ENGLAND, 

From  the  Year   1500,   to  the   Year   1688, 

Chiefly  with  regard  to 

CATHOLICS: 

BEING 

A  Complete  ACCOUNT  of  the  Divorce,  Supremacy,  Dissolution  of  Mo 
nasteries,  and  first  Attempts  for  a  Reformation  under  King  Henry  VIII.  ;  the 
unsettled  State  of  the  Reformation  under  Edward  VI.;  the  Interruption  it  met 
with  from  Queen  Mary  ;  with  the  last  Hand  put  to  it  hy  Queen  Elizabeth  . 

TOGETHER  WITH 

The  various  Fortunes  of  the  CATHOLIC  CAUSE, 

During  the  REIGNS  of 
King  James  I.,  King  Charles  I.,  King  Charles  II.,  and  King  James  II.  : 

PARTICULARLY, 

The  LIVES  of  the  most  eminent  Catholics,  Cardinals,  Bishops,  Inferior  Clergy, 

Regulars,  and  Laymen,  who  have  distinguished  themselves  by 

their  Piety,  Learning,  or  Military  Abilities  : 

ALSO, 

A    Distinct   and    Critical   ACCOUNT    of  the   Works    of  the  LEARNED  ; 

The  Trials  of  those  that  suffered  either  on  the  Score  of  Religion,  or  for 

Real  or  Fictitious  Plots  against  the  Government; 

WITH 
The  FOUNDATION  of  all  the  English  Colleges  and  Monasteries  abroad. 

The  whole  supported  by  Original  PAPERS  and  LETTERS  ;  many  whereof 
were  never  before  made  Public. 

To  which  is  Prefixed 

A    GENERAL    HISTORY    of   Ecclesiastical    Affairs,   under   the   Britain 
Saxon,  and  Norman  Periods. 

In    EIGHT    PARTS. 
The  FIRST  VOLUME. 

B  R  USSELS: 

Printed   in  the  Year  MDCCXXXVII. 


TO  THE 

RIGHT  REVEREND 

THOMAS  GRIFFITHS,  D.D. 

BISHOP  OF  OLENA, 

AND 

VICAR  APOSTOLIC  IN  THE  LONDON  DISTRICT, 
THIS  REPRINT  OF  A  WORK, 

CONTAINING 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  BODY,  DURING  THE 

PERIOD  OF  ITS  TRIALS  AND  ITS  MISFORTUNES, 

IS,  WITH  HIS  LORDSHIP'S  PERMISSION, 

INSCRIBED  AS  A  TESTIMONY  OF 

RESPECTFUL  ATTACHMENT, 

BY    HIS 

OBLIGED  AND  FAITHFUL  SERVANT, 

M.  A.  TIERNEY. 


a 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


THE  present  volume  is  the  commencement  of  a  series,  which,  in 
the  first  place,  will  complete  the  republication  of  Dodd's  Church 
History,  and,  in  the  next,  will  conduct  the  narrative  to  the  termi 
nation  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Of  the  merits  of  a  work,  so  uni 
versally  known,  and  so  highly  appreciated  as  that  of  Dodd,  it  might 
almost  appear  superfluous  to  speak.  Commencing  with  the  period  of 
her  first  misfortunes  in  this  country,  the  writer  accompanies  the  an 
cient  Church  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  her  course,  during  the  next  two 
centuries.  He  marks  the  origin  of  the  Reformation  in  the  wayward 
passions  of  Henry  :  mourns,  with  religion,  over  the  ruined  altars  and 
desecrated  shrines  of  Edward's  reign :  watches  their  alternate  rise  and 
fall  under  the  sister  sovereigns,  Mary  and  Elizabeth ;  and,  tracing 
the  varied  calamities  of  his  Catholic  countrymen  under  the  dynasty 
of  the  Stuarts,  closes  his  work  with  the  closing  fortunes  of  that 
unhappy  family.  But  it  is  not  in  the  extensive  range  of  the  history, 
nor  in  the  interest,  thrilling,  as  it  must  be,  to  every  Catholic  feeling, 
that  the  whole  merit  of  Dodd's  performance  consists.  To  talents 
of  an  eminent  order,  he  added  an  industry  peculiar  to  himself,  a 
patience  of  research  seldom  equalled,  and  a  liberality  of  mind  and 
expression  as  admirable  as,  unfortunately,  it  is  uncommon.  "  In 
the  compilation  of  this  work,"  says  Mr.  Berington,  "  he  spent 
almost  thirty  years.  It  contains  much  curious  matter,  collected 
with  great  assiduity,  and  many  original  records.  His  style,  when 
the  subject  admits  expression,  is  pure  and  unencumbered, — his 
narrative  easy, — his  reflections  just  and  liberal.  I  have  seldom 
known  a  writer,  and  that  writer  a  Churchman,  so  free  from  preju 
dice,  and  the  degrading  impressions  of  party  zeal."  * 

*  Memoirs  of  Panzani,  Pref.  ix. 

a  2 


Vlll  ADVERTISEMENT. 

The  performance  of  Dodd  is  the  history  of  the  downfall  of  the 
Catholic  religion  in  this  country.  On  the  one  hand,  we  see  the 
efforts  of  its  enemies  to  overthrow,  on  the  other,  the  struggles  of 
its  adherents  to  support  and  defend,  it.  The  former  are  more  gene 
rally  known :  the  latter,  which  abound  with  recollections  of  the 
most  interesting  kind,  are,  with  few  exceptions,  to  be  found  only  in 
the  pages  of  Dodd.  Among  these,  are  the  foundation  and  history 
of  the  English  colleges  abroad, — the  attempts  to  restore  the  hierar 
chy, —  the  institution  of  an  arch-priest,  —  the  appointment  of  the 
two  bishops  of  Chalcedon, — the  establishment  and  jurisdiction  of 
the  chapter, — the  introduction  of  vicars-apostolic, — and  the  mission 
of  Gregorio  Panzani.  Nor  must  we  omit  the  biographical  notices, 
so  copiously  scattered  through  the  work.  In  this  portion  of  his 
task,  indeed,  the  talents  and  industry  of  the  writer  are  eminently 
conspicuous.  From  sources  inaccessible  to  others,  from  the  diaries 
of  colleges,  and  the  unpublished  correspondence  of  individuals,  he 
has  drawn  a  body  of  information  at  once  original  and  important. 
He  has  sketched  the  lives  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the 
Catholic  community ;  has  described  the  works,  and  traced  the 
literary  career,  of  its  numerous  writers ;  and,  carrying  us  back  to 
the  period  of  its  severest  trial,  has  left  the  sufferings  and  the  con 
stancy  of  its  martyrs  to  edify  and  improve  the  world. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected,  that,  in  the  execution  of  a  work,  written 
under  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  attended  the  production  of 
the  Church  History  of  England,  the  author  should  be  entirely 
free  from  imperfection.  Dodd  was  not  only  a  Catholic,  but  also 
a  clergyman.  Living,  therefore,  in  a  state  of  proscription,  sur 
rounded  by  alarms,  and  shut  out  from  the  intercourse  of  the 
learned,  he  was  compelled  to  prosecute  his  studies  in  secret,  and  to 
send  forth  their  result  to  the  world  without  that  final  correction 
which  they  might,  perhaps,  otherwise  have  received.  The  sources, 
moreover,  of  his  information  were,  in  many  instances,  distant  and 
far  apart.  A  manuscript  overlooked,  or  accidentally  laid  aside, 
would  not  be  likely  to  reclaim  attention  :  a  transcript,  made  in 
haste,  and  imperfectly  collated,  could  not  afterwards  be  amended  ; 
and  an  error,  though  only  in  the  name  or  date  of  an  instrument, 


ADVERTISEMENT.  IX 

would,  not  unfrequently,  lead  to  the  most  inaccurate  representa 
tions  of  events.  Hence,  with  all  his  excellences,  Dodd  is  sometimes 
defective,  and  frequently  incorrect.  With  him,  dates  and  names 
are  too  often  mistaken,  or  confounded:  transactions  of  stirring 
interest,  or  of  lasting  importance,  are  occasionally  despatched  with 
the  indifference  of  a  passing  allusion  ;  and  occurrences,  that  scarcely 
merit  a  casual  notice,  are  swollen  into  consequence,  with  the  fulness 
of  a  circumstantial  detail.  But  the  principal  fault  of  the  writer  lies 
in  the  defective  arrangement  of  his  materials.  This  was  long  since 
complained  of  by  Mr.  Berington :  it  has  been  felt  and  noticed  by 
all  who  have  had  occasion  to  consult  the  pages  of  the  History ;  and, 
united  with  the  want  of  a  proper  index,  has,  no  doubt,  contributed, 
in  a  great  degree,  to  diminish  the  general  usefulness  of  the  work. 

From  the  mention  of  these  defects,  the  public  will  readily  anti 
cipate  the  design  of  the  present  edition.  Where  an  error  shall 
appear,  it  will  be  corrected ;  where  an  omission  of  consequence 
shall  be  discovered,  it  will  be  supplied.  If  the  mistake  extend  only 
to  a  date,  or  affect  only  an  immaterial  portion  of  the  narrative,  it 
will  be  rectified,  without  notice,  in  the  text.  In  other  instances, 
whether  of  inaccuracy  or  of  omission,  a  note  will  be  inserted ;  and 
whatever  the  researches  of  later  historians  may  have  discovered, 
will  invariably  be  added.  It  may  be  farther  stated,  that,  of  the 
MSS.  referred  to  by  Dodd,  many  have  been  brought  to  England, 
and  are  now,  with  numerous  others,  confided  to  the  custody  of  the 
Editor.  These  will  all  be  applied  to  the  purposes  of  the  present 
edition.  The  papers  already  printed  will  be  collated;  and  many 
important  documents,  not  hitherto  published,  will  be  inserted. 

The  arrangement  of  the  different  parts  of  the  work  is  a  more 
delicate  task.  To  remodel  is  more  difficult  than  to  construct: 
alteration  is,  in  general,  but  a  bad  apology  for  weakening  an  ori 
ginal  design.  In  the  present  case,  however,  it  has  been  thought 
that,  without  injury  to  the  author,  his  plan  might,  at  least,  be  par 
tially  simplified  and  improved.  Those,  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  former  edition,  are  aware  that  the  history  is  divided  into  eight 
parts,  corresponding  with  the  eight  reigns  over  which  it  extends. 
Of  these  parts,  each  is  again  divided  into  the  three  other  parts 


X  ADVERTISEMENT. 

of  History,  Biography,  and  Records ;  and  these  are  still  farther 
subdivided  into  an  indefinite  number  of  articles,  according  to  the 
variety  of  the  subjects  to  be  treated,  or  to  the  rank,  the  station, 
or  the  sex  of  the  several  persons  whose  lives  are  to  be  recorded. 
It  is  needless  to  point  out  the  inconvenience  of  this  complex 
and  disjointed  arrangement.  To  remedy  the  defect,  it  is  in 
tended,  in  the  present  edition,  to  place  the  work  under  the  two 
grand  divisions  of  History  and  Biography ;  to  print  the  History  in 
the  earlier,  the  Biography  in  the  later,  volumes;  to  subjoin  to  each 
volume  an  Appendix,  containing  its  own  records  properly  arranged ; 
and  to  insert  a  reference  in  the  notes  to  each  article  of  that  Appen 
dix,  according  as  its  subject  arises  in  the  course  of  the  narrative. 
It  is  only  requisite  to  add,  that  the  lives,  in  the  biographical  part, 
will  be  methodically  disposed ;  that  the  authorities,  both  of  Dodd 
and  of  the  Editor,  will  be  carefully  stated  in  the  notes ;  and  that  a 
General  Index  to  the  contents  of  the  whole  work  will  be  given  at 
the  end  of  the  Continuation. 

Of  that  Continuation  the  Author  will  hereafter  have  occasion  to 
speak.  At  present,  he  has  only  to  offer  the  first  volume  to  his 
readers,  as  a  specimen  of  the  manner,  in  which  he  hopes  to  work 
out  one  part  of  his  design.  His  ambition  is,  to  render  a  valuable 
writer  more  generally  accessible,  and  more  extensively  useful :  if 
the  approbation  of  the  public  shall  give  him  reason  to  hope  that  he 
has  succeeded,  he  will  require  little  other  encouragement  in  the 
labours  that  are  still  before  him. 

Arundel, 

February  9*A,  1839. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


THERE  are  so  many  obstacles  in  the  way,  which  hinder 
both  authors  and  readers  from  making  their  labours 
profitable  either  to  themselves.,  or  to  the  rest  of  man 
kind,  that  it  is  as  hard  a  task  to  prescribe  rules  to  the 
one,  as  it  is  to  please  the  other.  So  many  things  hap 
pen  to  bias  our  opinions,  and  vitiate  our  taste,  that  the 
strongest  resolutions  of  impartiality  will  prove  insigni 
ficant,  unless  we  be  carefully  guarded  against  those 
temptations,  whereby  men  are  not  only  daily  surprised, 
but,  as  it  were,  driven,  into  errors  and  mistakes.  Igno 
rance,  education,  religion,  passion,  and  party-dis 
putes,  are  in  a  kind  of  confederacy  to  seduce  mankind. 
Under  their  influences,  we  become  both  writers  and 
readers,  and  place  ourselves  on  the  bench  of  judges ; 
though,  for  the  most  part,  but  very  indifferently  qua 
lified.  Three  things  are  required  to  complete  the 
character  of  a  judge ; — authority,  skill,  and  integrity. 
Without  authority,  his  sentence  is  void ;  without  skill, 
it  is  rash ;  and  without  integrity,  it  is  unjust.  I  will 
not  dispute  the  common  right  of  opining,  where  nature 
seems  to  have  given  a  general  commission :  but  the 
other  two  qualifications  are  frequently  wanting. 

The  first  impediment,  in  the  search  of  truth,  is  igno 
rance,  which  few  are  willing  to  own,  but  all  are  made 


Xll  THE  AUTHOR'S 

sensible  of  by  daily  experience.  The  usual  method,  we 
take,  to  avoid  this  inconvenience,  is,  to  appeal  to  what 
we  call  reason.  Reason,  indeed,  is  a  noble  gift ;  and, 
when  under  good  management,  not  only  hugely  service 
able  to  all  the  purposes,  both  of  this  life  and  the  next, 
but  a  sufficient  criterion  in  all  enquiries  whatever.. 
But,  as  it  often  happens  to  be  under  the  direction  of 
our  passions,  there  is  no  folly  nor  error  in  life,  to  which 
it  may  not  be  an  introduction.  Another  difficulty,  we 
have  to  struggle  with,  is  education,  which,  though  it 
is  designed  to  cultivate  and  improve  our  ignorance,  yet 
it  has  very  often  a  contrary  effect.  As  the  products  of 
the  earth  become  rich  or  poor,  from  the  qualities  of  the 
soil ;  so  the  mind  is  replenished  with  useful  or  per 
nicious  ideas,  according  to  the  dispositions  of  those,  by 
whom  we  are  documented.  I  own  there  are  some 
common  notions  of  truth  grafted  by  nature  :  but  they 
are  so  very  few,  and  so  easily  put  into  confusion  by  an 
improper  education,  that  the  pupil  appears  in  the 
world  with  a  vast  number  of  prejudices,  which  are 
daily  strengthened  and  multiplied  by  the  divided  inte 
rests  of  mankind.  The  next  obstruction,  we  meet  with, 
is  religion,  which,  being  a  superior  consideration  to  all 
others,  may  reasonably  be  supposed  to  have  the  strong 
est  influence  over  human  actions.  Now,  religion  is  an 
enemy  to  partiality ;  and  they,  that  make  it  the  only 
test  of  historical  facts,  may  be  said  to  labour  under  an 
invincible  prejudice  in  favour  of  themselves.  Yet  such 
are  our  corrupt  inclinations,  that  every  man  is  apt  to 
suspect  his  neighbour's  veracity,  who  worships  not  God 
after  the  same  manner  :  and,  by  this  means,  persons  of 
different  persuasions,  in  matters  of  religion,  seldom  do 
justice  to  one  another  upon  the  foot  of  common  honesty. 
The  pretended  advantage  of  religion  is  a  foreign  con- 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

sideration,  where  matters  of  fact  are  under  debate. 
The  case  is  then  between  the  honest  man  and  the 
knave  ;  the  man  of  capacity,  and  one  that  is  unequal  to 
his  task.  Again,  passion,  or  violence  of  temper,  is  to 
be  avoided,  as  one  of  the  greatest  enemies,  we  have  to 
engage  with.  Virtue  and  truth  cannot  lie  under  a 
greater  slavery,  than  where  persons  are  not  only 
tempted,  but  hurried,  into  vice  and  errors.  By  pas 
sion,  I  do  not  mean  that  strong  affection,  we  have  for 
the  common  cause,  either  as  to  religion,  or  politics ; 
but  the  extravagant  transports  of  a  writer,  whose  affec 
tions  and  aversions  are  under  no  management ;  whose 
labours  are  all  subservient  to  private  and  domestic 
views  ;  where  pride,  interest,  and  revenge  are  the  only 
springs  he  moves  by,  in  his  pretended  zeal.  As  to 
party-disputes,  when  party-men  desire  to  be  heard, 
the  reader  is  to  hold  the  scales  continually  in  his  hand; 
to  look  into  intentions,  as  well  as  words  ;  to  weigh  the 
bag,  as  well  as  the  goods,  that  are  exposed  to  sale. 
Were  those,  who  daily  appear  in  the  world  in  the 
quality  of  authors,  disposed  to  steer  their  course  by 
this  compass,  they  probably  might  avoid  those  rocks 
they  commonly  split  upon,  and  the  world  be  better  in 
formed  by  their  labours. 

For  my  own  part,  though  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  en 
tirely  free  from  the  prejudices  I  have  mentioned,  yet  so 
far  I  have  endeavoured  at  it,  as  not  to  precipitate  my 
self  upon  the  present  undertaking,  without  some  fore 
sight  and  apprehension  of  the  danger,  to  which  I  was 
going  to  expose  myself.  If  the  world  requires  an  apo 
logy  for  the  liberty  I  take  in  desiring  their  attention,  I 
appeal  to  the  generosity  of  the  present  age,  which  allows 
authors  to  be  heard  upon  very  easy  terms.  This  con 
sideration  has  encouraged  me  to  lay  hold  of  the  indul- 


XIV  THE  AUTHOR'S 

gence,  with  hopes  of  having  it  farther  extended,  if  I 
answer  not  expectation.  I  own,  when  I  first  laid  down 
the  plan  of  this  work,  several  things  occurred,,  to  deter 
me  from  it.  I  considered  mankind  under  the  two 
opposite  dispositions  of  indolence  and  curiosity.  The 
one  threatening  me  with  insipidness,  more  insupport 
able  than  the  severest  criticism ;  the  other  so  full  of 
expectation,  that  an  angel  could  not  please.  To  re 
deem  myself  from  this  perplexity,  I  was  prompted  to 
have  recourse  to  those  popular  methods  of  bespeaking 
the  world  by  protestations  of  sincerity,  appeals  to  con 
science,  and  disclaims  of  partiality.  But  too  much  of 
this  kind  of  courtship  discovering  an  inclination  to 
deceive,  made  me  apprehensive  of  the  expedient.  These 
reflections  have  given  some  ease  to  my  mind,  as  to  any 
extraordinary  solicitude,  concerning  the  success  of  my 
labours.  However,  that  I  may  not  seem  to  neglect, 
much  less  to  despise,  the  candid  and  judicious  reader, 
it  will  be  proper  to  offer  something  towards  removing 
prejudice,  and  rendering  my  endeavours  acceptable. 

The  first  demand  the  public  may  have  upon  me,  is,  to 
be  acquainted  with  my  sufficiency,  and  what  stock  I  have, 
towards  carrying  on  so  great  a  design.  For,  the  subject 
I  have  made  choice  of,  being  very  extensive,  like  a  mer 
chant  who  deals  wide,  I  must  be  provided  with  variety 
of  matter  to  answer  a  general  call.  Now,  the  method 
I  proposed  to  myself  was  this :  besides  above  thirty 
years'  conversation  I  have  had  with  persons  of  good 
reading,  and  some  curiosity,  I  perused  the  best  his 
torians  of  our  country,  both  Catholics  and  Protest 
ants.  To  these  I  joined  those  biographers  who  de 
signedly  gave  account  of  such  persons,  whose  lives  I 
intended  to  publish :  and,  that  I  might  not  be  carried 
away  by  party  accounts,  and  deceived  in  the  true  ten- 


PREFACE.  XV 

dency  of  matters  of  fact,  I  was  advised  to  have  my  eye 
constantly  upon  the  public  records  of  the  nation,  which 
would  enable  me  to  distinguish  between  the  intention 
of  the  legislature,  and  the  partial  insinuations  of  pri 
vate  persons.  To  this  purpose,  I  had  frequent  recourse 
to  journals,  statutes,  proclamations,  and  generally  to  all 
such  papers  as  came  forth  with  the  stamp  of  public 
authority. 

This  appeared  to  be  a  good  foundation ;  but  it  was 
far  from  either  satisfying  my  curiosity,  or  coming  up  to 
the  demands  of  the  subject.  The  public  histories  of 
the  nation  were  in  every  body's  hands ;  and,  excepting 
some  singularity  in  the  method,  I  could  pleasure  the 
world  with  nothing  new  from  that  source.  This  put 
me  upon  searching  after  more  choice  materials,  which, 
I  rightly  judged,  must  be  lodged  in  Catholic  hands  ; 
especially  what  related  to  their  story,  since  the  reforma 
tion.  But  here,  again,  several  difficulties  offered  them 
selves,  not  easy  to  be  got  over.  The  treasures,  I  was 
in  search  after,  were  either  reserved  in  colleges  and 
monasteries  abroad,  or  concealed  in  private  hands  at 
home ;  and,  perhaps,  in  the  keeping  of  persons  not  very 
communicative.  There  was  a  considerable  charge  that 
attended  the  search,  and  great  uncertainty  in  the  suc 
cess.  The  undertaking  appeared  so  unmanageable, 
from  these  apprehensions,  that,  had  I  yielded  to  the  sug 
gestions  of  some  of  my  friends,  I  must  have  dropped  my 
pen,  and  sunk  under  the  weight  of  the  idea.  I  rather 
chose  to  embrace  the  advice  of  a  few,  who,  having  con 
ceived  a  favourable  opinion  of  my  industry,  encouraged 
me  to  proceed,  and  carry  on  the  inquiry,  as  far  as  cir 
cumstances  would  permit.  By  these  advances,  I  had 
made  in  the  opinion  of  some,  I  was  led  on  to  hope  for 
the  like  success  from  all  others,  who  were  inclined  to 


XVI  THE  AUTHOR'S 

favour  such  kind  of  undertakings.  Wherefore  I  re 
sumed  the  task,  and,  after  several  essays,  flattered  myself 
that  I  should  become  sufficiently  master  of  my  project. 

In  the  first  place,  as  it  was  requisite  for  me  to  go 
abroad,  in  order  to  collect  materials,  so  I  was  particu 
larly  careful  not  to  be  imposed  upon  by  hearsays,  or 
second-hand  intelligence.  I  was  not  only  favoured 
with  the  sight  of  very  valuable  records,  but  was  per 
mitted  to  read  over  the  journals,  or  had  authentic  ab 
stracts  from  our  colleges  and  monasteries ;  many  of 
which  places  I  visited  in  person,  and  by  my  correspond 
ents  received  satisfaction  from  others,  that  were  at  too 
great  a  distance.  Where  I  found  persons  had  been 
either  careless  in  continuing  their  journals,  or  unwilling 
to  communicate  them,  I  was  able  to  make  good  such 
deficiencies  from  the  records  of  the  English  college  at 
Do  way  ;  wThich,  being  the  first  community  established 
abroad  after  the  reformation,  and  a  nursery  to  most  of 
the  rest,  afforded  intelligence  both  as  to  persons  and 
facts  relating  to  the  whole  English  mission.  But,  among 
all  the  records  I  met  with,  none  gave  me  more  satisfac 
tion,  than  the  original  letters  of  many  eminent  Catho 
lics,  who  opposed  the  reformation  in  the  beginning  of 
queen  Elizabeth's  reign  ;  from  whence  I  drew  several 
useful  hints,  as  well  towards  completing  the  lives  of  par 
ticular  persons,  as  for  illustrating  many  obscure  passages 
in  our  Church  History  of  the  two  last  ages. 

By  this  additional  help,  I  was  enabled  to  acquit  my 
self  with  some  kind  of  reputation  in  the  present  under 
taking.  But  still  new  difficulties  started  up  before  me. 
A  work  of  this  kind  being  liable  to  many  exceptions, 
no  small  pains  were  to  be  taken,  in  order  to  reconcile 
different  humours  and  interests  to  my  good  intentions. 
This  obliged  me  to  a  great  deal  of  caution,  and  to  pro- 


PREFACE.  XV11 

vide  myself  against  a  general  attack.  For  both  Pro 
testants  and  Catholics  might  expect  to  hear  some 
accounts  not  very  much  to  their  advantage.  Protest 
ants  may  be  apt  to  arraign  the  design  in  general,  upon 
a  pretence  that  it  cannot  be  carried  on  without  detri 
ment  to  their  cause,  and  extolling  those  whom  they  not 
only  disregard,  but  often  look  upon  with  contempt : 
that  to  exhibit  such  an  appearance  of  learned  men,  who 
constantly  kept  their  adversaries  in  play,  is  insulting 
the  established  church  :  that  I  shall  frequently  be  put 
upon  justifying  Catholics,  as  to  several  facts,  wherewith 
they  are  charged  by  the  generality  of  Protestant  writers. 
But  as  I  have  no  inclination  to  give  offence,  so  I  per 
suade  myself,  such  kind  of  exceptions  will  not  be  made 
by  any  judicious  person  of  the  church  of  England.  My 
design  not  being  to  enter  into  the  capital  quarrel  about 
religion,  I  presume  all  mankind  are  upon  a  level,  as  to 
personal  merit.  And  if  I  either  extol  or  depreciate  par 
ticular  persons,  I  am  only  accountable  to  justice  and 
decency  in  my  characters.  Nature  has  very  little  regard 
either  to  religion  or  climate.  She  deals  her  favours 
with  an  impartial  hand  :  wit  and  beauty,  with  other 
accomplishments  of  body  or  mind,  are  found  under  any 
latitude  ;  and  the  most  shining  qualifications  under  a 
wrong  direction.  Are  we  not  daily  influenced  by  suc 
cess  alone,  as  to  the  opinion  we  entertain  both  of  per 
sons  and  causes  ?  True  merit  stands  not  upon  any 
man's  opinions,  but  upon  more  rational  proofs.  The  in 
struments  of  a  prevailing,  nay,  even  of  a  lawful,  power, 
do  not  always  behave  themselves  with  credit  to  those 
that  set  them  to  work.  For,  though  submission  to  law 
ful  powers  be  a  duty,  both  prudence  and  justice  may 
be  wanting  in  the  administration  :  and  it  is  no  less  un 
reasonable  to  imagine,  that  every  one,  that  is  happy  in 


XV111  THE  AUTHOR'S 

having  a  good  cause  to  defend,  has  capacity  and  learn 
ing  to  defend  it  after  the  best  manner.     Now,  if  the 
Catholics  of  this  kingdom  (considering  their  small  num 
ber)  do  make  some  kind  of  figure  in  history,  it  is  a  fact 
I  cannot  conceal :  and,  indeed,  it  ought  to  pass  as  a 
high  compliment  to  the  church  of  England,  when  their 
champions  shall  be  informed,  that  those  they  engaged 
with  were  not  despisable  adversaries,  but  persons  of 
skill  and  courage  ;  and,  if  they  happened  to  be  worsted, 
a  credit  to  the  conquerors  by  whose  hands  they  fell. 
As  for  those  facts,  in  which  truth  will  oblige  me  to 
appear  an  advocate  for  the  Catholics,  I  apprehend  nei 
ther  danger  nor  inconvenience  from  the  sincere  and 
candid  writers  of  the  adverse  party,  whom  I  shall  quote 
as  unexceptionable  vouchers,  upon  several  occasions, 
where  either  honour  and  conscience  have  prompted 
them,  or  providence  has  guided  their  pens,  to  do  justice 
to  those  that  laboured  under  calumnies.     As  for  others, 
whose  exasperated  minds  incline  them  to  take  up  ca 
lumny  upon  trust,  and  to  whom  it  is  a  piece  of  religion 
not  to  be  truly  informed,  wheresoever  they  have  con 
ceived  a  prejudice,  it  is  a  sufficient  justification,  as  well 
as  punishment,  to  leave  them  under  the  delusion.     I 
shall  be  extremely  well  pleased,  if  these  reflections  will 
set  me  right  with  the  Protestant  reader  ;  as,  indeed, 
there  is  no  reason  why  a  method  should  not  be  approved 
of,  where  justice  is  done,  though  to  an  adversary.     Nei 
ther  church  nor  state  can  suffer  in  their  just  claims,  by 
representing  a  Catholic  handsome,  learned,  or  patient 
under  afflictions.     It  is  depriving  God  and  nature  of 
their  due,  not  to  acknowledge  and  bow  to  excellences, 
wheresoever  they  are  found  ;  and  an  instance  of  a  sot 
tish  partiality  to  confine  them  within  the  limits  of  our 
idle  speculations. 


PREFACE.  XIX 

As  to  the  exceptions.,  which  may  be  made  by  Catho 
lics,  there  will,  perhaps,  be  more  difficulty  in  removing 
the  scruples  arising  from  this  undertaking,  which  (as 
may  be  pretended)  will  reveal  their  secrets,  and  become 
prejudicial  to  the  common  cause,  by  producing  a  body 
of  men  continually  labouring  against  a  church  estab 
lished  by  law  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  this,  awaken  the 
government,  to  be  more  inquisitive  about  their  methods. 
Now,  either  I  am  a  stranger  to  what  Catholics  call  their 
secrets,  or  what  they  mean  may  be  considered  under 
these  three  heads, — doctrine,  personal  behaviour,  or  the 
methods,  whereby  they  propagate  the  interest  of  their 
religion.  I  dare  make  bold  to  say,  they  are  under  no 
apprehension  of  having  their  doctrine  detected.  For, 
if  I  mistake  not  their  case,  they  suffer  more  by  conceal 
ment  and  misrepresentation,  than  by  an  open  and  can 
did  declaration.  As  for  their  behaviour,  if  either  the 
whole  body,  or  particular  persons,  have  injured  their 
faith  by  an  improper  carriage,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  they  do 
not  expect  panegyrics  on  that  score.  If  it  is  the  part 
of  a  Christian  neither  to  justify  nor  to  palliate  evil  prac 
tices,  it  is,  in  like  manner,  the  duty  of  an  historian,  not 
to  be  afraid  of  committing  to  paper  what  he  is  obliged 
to  think  and  speak  :  and,  though  silence,  in  many  cases, 
may  be  commendable,  yet,  in  many  others,  it  is  an 
enemy  to  truth  and  sincerity.  I  own,  I  cannot  wind 
myself  up  to  that  extravagant  pitch  of  prudence,  as  to 
bury  those  practices  in  oblivion,  which  some  have  been 
charged  with,  and  others  legally  convicted  of.  No  party 
will  suffer  a  jot  for  their  sincerity  in  this  respect ; 
whereas  a  contrary  behaviour  betrays  a  disposition  not 
to  act  fairly.  Besides,  it  is  a  certain  way  to  seduce 
posterity  by  lame  and  imperfect  accounts ;  and  puts 
them  out  of  a  capacity  of  judging  truly  either  of  per- 


XX  THE  AUTHOR'S 

sons  or  of  causes.  Catholics,  therefore,  have  nothing 
to  fear  from  this  kind  of  freedom.  If  the  justice  of  a 
cause  depended  upon  the  behaviour  of  particular  per 
sons,  Christianity  itself  would  feel  the  weight  of  the 
charge :  the  whole  church  might  be  reviled  upon  ac 
count  of  Judas's  treachery  :  the  body  of  Catholics  would 
become  answerable  for  the  gunpowder-plot;  and  the 
murder  of  king  Charles  I.  be  made  an  article  of  the 
Protestant  creed.  If  in  these,  and  such  like  instances, 
I  do  justice  to  whole  bodies,  and  only  charge  those  with 
misbehaviour,  who  were  legally  convicted,  I  expect 
thanks  from  all  lovers  of  truth  and  sincerity. 

Now,  as  to  the  other  exception,  which  may  be  made  by 
Catholics,  concerning  the  method  of  supporting  the  in 
terest  of  their  religion  by^the  conveniences  of  colleges  and 
monasteries,  it  is  so  far  from  being  a  secret,  that  Doway 
and  St.  Omers  are  as  well  known,  as  Oxford  and  Cam 
bridge  :  and  it  would  be  a  very  stale  information,  to 
acquaint  the  government,  that  there  are  several  English 
convents  abroad ;  which  the  nation  is  already  as  well 
convinced  of,  as  that  they  have  boarding-schools  of 
their  own.  Again,  it  is  very  obvious  to  imagine  (and 
I  believe  the  wisdom  of  the  nation  might  hit  upon  it 
without  any  suggestion  from  me)  that  such  a  number 
of  persons  cannot  subsist  without  bread ;  and,  in  con 
sequence  of  this,  that  there  must  be  some  remittances, 
in  order  to  support  them.  But  it  is  all  speculation,  to 
infer  from  hence,  that  the  government  will  enter  upon 
any  new  project  against  Catholics.  What  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  produce,  in  relation  to  these  matters,  I  am 
confident,  will  have  a  contrary  effect,  and  rather  con 
tribute  to  make  the  government  easy  and  propitious,  in 
regard  of  those  poor  establishments,  and  free  the  party 
from  all  apprehension  of  being  disturbed  ;  especially, 


PREFACE.  XXI 

when  it  will  be  made  appear,  that  the  chief  of  those 
colleges  and  communities  at  Doway,  Rome,  St.  Omers, 
Liege,  Yalladolid,  Lisbon,  &c.,  were  founded  by  foreign 
ers,  and  still  are  chiefly  supported  by  the  strength  of 
the  same  benefaction.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
convents  for  religious  women  ;  to  whose  establishment 
the  purses  of  foreigners  were  willingly  unstrung :  which, 
with  some  trifling  allowance  from  their  parents,  by  way 
of  portion,  affords  them  a  bare  subsistence.  And  it  is 
well  known  to  our  protestant  nobility  and  gentry,  who 
have  been  abroad,  that  the  nuns  continually  work  to 
wards  their  maintenance ;  that  their  way  of  living,  both 
as  to  dress  and  diet,  is  very  mean,  and  below  envy ; 
that  they  content  themselves  with  bare  necessaries ;  all 
which  not  only  answers  the  end  of  their  religious  call, 
but  makes  them  become  less  burdensome  to  their  friends, 
and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  less  obnoxious  to  a  government, 
which  may  suspect  itself  injured  by  remittances  towards 
their  support.  That  some  remittances  are  now  and 
then  made,  is  what  may  easily  be  imagined  :  but  then, 
they  are  so  very  inconsiderable,  that  I  may  presume  to 
say,  any  two  or  three  noblemen  of  distinction,  who  make 
the  tour  of  France  and  Italy,  draw  more  money  out  of 
the  nation,  than  what  is  annually  remitted  towards  sup 
porting  the  colleges  and  convents  abroad.  And,  if  this 
representation  is  not  credited,  I  believe,  I  am  able  to 
produce  distinct  and  convincing  proofs  of  it. 

These  exceptions,  that  are,  or  may  be,  proposed  by 
Catholics  in  general,  bring  into  my  mind  what  may  be 
alleged  against  this  performance  by  particular  persons 
of  that  communion,  who  will  be  apt  to  think,  that  I 
shall  renew  litigious  matters,  scandalize  Protestants  by 
reporting  them,  and,  perhaps,  be  too  partial  in  my  de 
cisions.  But  these  jealousies  are  soon  removed,  when 

VOL.  I.  // 


XXii  THE  AUTHOR'S 

the  case  is  truly  stated.     It  is  a  happiness  not  to  be  ex 
pected  in  human  life,  to  be  entirely  free  from  conten 
tion  :  but  the  bare  reporting  of  our  forefathers'  conten 
tions^  does  not  prove  any  inclination  to  quarrel  upon 
the  same  subject.     Has  it  not  always  been  customary, 
to  transmit  such  accounts  down  to  posterity  ?     The 
debates  among  the  Apostles,,  concerning  the  ceremonies 
of  the  old  law  ;  the  opposition  St.  Peter  met  with  from 
St.  Paul ;  with  the  party-disputes  concerning  the  widows 
that  were  employed  in  administering  the  goods  of  the 
church,  are  carefully  recorded  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
The  same  liberty  (if  it  may  be  called  so)  was  taken,  in 
the  account  we  have  of  the  warm  controversies  between 
pope  Victor  and  the  Asian  bishops,  concerning  Easter ; 
as  also  between  pope  Stephen  and  the  African  bishops, 
concerning  baptism.     And,  if  wre  look  but  into  the  his 
tories  of  former  times,  what  are  they,  but  a  continual 
narrative  of  certain  disputes,  that  happened  among  the 
faithful,  in  every  respective  age  ?     Have  not  Baronius, 
Natalis  Alexander,  Du  Pin,  &c.,  improved  the  world  by 
their  historical  labours,  wherein  they  publish  not  only 
the  facts,  but  the  pretensions,  arguments,  and  politic 
methods  of  every  contending  party  ?     And,  indeed,  the 
laws  of  history  require  such  particulars.     There  can 
neither  be  pleasure  nor  profit,  where  an  historian  is  no 
more  than  a  mere  journalist,  and  all  those  circumstances 
are  buried  in  oblivion,  whereby  future  ages  might  form 
their  conduct,  and  avoid  those  rocks,  which  many  have 
split  upon.    Now,  a  man  must  be  an  entire  stranger  to 
the  methods  of  divine  Providence,  to  take  scandal  at 
the  common  frailties,  which  are  incident  to  human 
nature :  nor  do  I  believe  any  person  of  judgment  will 
have  a  worse  opinion  of  the  Catholic  cause,  upon  that 
account.     What  greater  token  can  there  be  of  a  want 


PREFACE.  XX111 

of  good  sense,  than  to  draw  disadvantageous  conse 
quences  from  men's  passions,  or  from  quarrels,  that 
happen  within  the  pale  of  the  church  ?  Considerate 
persons  will  rather  improve  themselves  from  such  con 
troversies,  and  admire  the  goodness  and  wisdom  of  Pro 
vidence,  which  contrived  to  discover  the  fort  and  the 
foible  of  every  cause,  and  yet  make  up  differences,  be 
fore  they  came  to  an  open  rupture.  The  only  appre 
hension,  therefore,  particular  persons  of  the  Catholic 
communion  can  lie  under,  upon  the  present  occasion, 
is,  lest  I  should  be  partial  in  my  decisions.  I  have  no 
other  way  of  giving  content  upon  this  head,  but  by 
providing  myself  with  authentic  records ;  being  true 
to  them  ;  and  so  letting  every  one  taste  of  the  fruit  of 
his  own  management.  To  reveal  private  intrigues, 
especially  where  morals  are  concerned,  is  the  odious 
character  of  a  libeller  ;  but,  when  an  historian  ties  him 
self  up  to  public  facts,  and  the  rational  claims  of  parties, 
which  they  themselves  thought  proper  to  assert  and 
maintain,  while  the  controversies  were  on  foot,  a  very 
slender  apology  will  justify  his  conduct ;  and  a  contrary 
behaviour  will  be  censured,  as  a  culpable  omission,  and 
an  injudicious  piece  of  scrupulosity. 

Besides  these  imaginary  difficulties,  which  proceed 
rather  from  a  cavilling  disposition,  than  from  a  true 
judgment  of  matters,  I  am,  in  the  next  place,  to  make 
mention  of  some  others,  which  are  inherent  to  the  per 
formance  itself,  and  have  somewhat  of  reality  in  them. 
I  am  told,  in  a  friendly  manner,  that,  after  all  the 
search  I  have  made,  the  work  will  still  be  imperfect, 
and  many  persons  left  out,  who  have  a  right  to  be 
remembered.  I  own  myself  affected  by  this  admoni 
tion  ;  but  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  pleasure  persons  of 
so  vast  an  expectation.  If  what  I  have  done  will 


XXIV  THE  AUTHOR'S 

prove  a  handsome  attempt,  and  an  inducement  to  bet 
ter  performers,  it  is  the  utmost  of  my  ambition.  I  am 
willing  to  sit  down  in  the  usual  posture  of  a  projector, 
to  be  improved  and  built  upon  by  posterity.  However, 
if  I  am  to  be  charged  with  involuntary  omissions,  so 
far  I  own  myself  guilty. 

Again,  I  have  been  put  in  mind,  that  my  labours 
would  have  been  much  more  valuable,  had  I  taken  in 
the  lives  of  Protestants  as  well  as  of  Catholics.  But  as 
my  design  was  chiefly  to  entertain  the  reader  with 
something  new,  and  the  lives  of  Protestant  writers  have 
been  frequently  published  by  other  hands,  it  fully  an 
swered  both  my  design,  and  the  demands  of  the  sub 
ject,  if  I  confined  myself  to  one  party.  Yet  I  have  so 
far  entered  into  those  gentlemen's  sentiments,  that  very 
many  Protestants  are  taken  notice  of,  in  a  satisfactory 
way,  both  as  to  their  writings,  as  far  as  they  were  en 
gaged  with  Catholics,  and  as  to  other  matters.  I  was 
farther  advised  to  produce  vouchers,  to  support  wThat  I 
advanced,  and  justify  my  accounts  by  distinct  and  au 
thentic  quotations.  This  was  a  proper  and  seasonable 
insinuation.  For  quotations,  in  many  cases,  are  not  a 
mere  compliment,  but  the  strict  duty  of  an  historian  ; 
especially  in  an  age,  when  the  credit  of  authors  runs 
so  low,  and  bankruptcies,  in  point  of  veracity,  are  so 
very  frequent.  I  might,  indeed,  plead  the  privilege  of 
some  late  writers,  Burnet,  Echard,  &c.,  who  have  ven 
tured  into  the  world,  without  the  ceremony  of  quota 
tions.  But  he,  that  has  not  the  convenience  of  a  party 
to  support  him,  must  appear  better  guarded.  As  to 
the  thing  itself,  if  I  have  a  right  notion  of  it,  quotations 
may  be  either  necessary  or  superfluous,  according  to 
the  exigency  of  the  subject.  Some  authors  relate  what 
happened  in  former  times,  others  relate  what  happened 


PREFACE.  XXV 

in  their  own  time.  Now  both  are  upon  the  same 
terms,  as  to  what  regards  vouchers,  tn  both  cases,  an 
author  is  capable  of  imposing  upon  the  world.  All,,  in 
a  great  measure,,  depends  upon  the  credit  of  the  re 
porter.,  where  authentic  records  are  not  produced. 
For  a  hearsay  has  no  more  weight,  when  it  is  taken 
from  the  mouths  of  the  living,  than  when  it  is  trans 
cribed  from  the  writings  of  the  dead.  What  appears 
very  reasonable,  upon  this  occasion,  is,  to  distinguish 
between  notorious  facts,  which  cannot  be  called  into 
question,  and  such  as  are  uncommon,  surprising,  or 
may  be  contested.  In  the  first  case,  vouchers  are  a 
load  of  rubbish  upon  every  page.  What  occasion  is 
there  for  proofs,  that  the  Spanish  armada  attempted 
this  island  in  1588  ?  of  the  restoration  in  1660  ?  or  the 
revolution  in  1688  ?  Suitably  to  these  observations,  I 
have  not  omitted  quotations  in  general,  or  more  dis 
tinctly,  as  the  subject  required ;  and  have  taken  care 
to  produce  whole  records,  rather  than  that  the  point,  to 
which  they  were  a  reference,  should  not  be  thoroughly 
understood. 

If  these  considerations  are  judged  sufficient,  to  pro 
cure  me  a  protection  from  well-disposed  readers,  I 
shall  be  glad  to  embrace  the  favour.  However,  in  some 
other  cases,  I  find  myself  obliged  to  submit  entirely,  and 
acknowledge  my  insufficiency.  The  disadvantageous 
circumstances,  which  Catholics  have  lived  under,  since 
the  Reformation,  have  rendered  them  incapable  to  fur 
nish  an  author,  so  as  to  write  with  exactness  upon  their 
affairs.  Some  were  afraid  of  making  journals,  lest 
they  should  fall  into  improper  hands  ;  and  those,  that 
have  ventured  to  be  curious  in  that  way,  have  met  with 
the  usual  fate,  of  having  their  papers  lost,  plundered,  or 
so  damaged,  as  to  become  unserviceable.  Their  learned 


XXVI  THE  AUTHOR'S 

men,  and  missioners,  by  changing  their  names,  have 
left  us  in  the  dark,  as  to  their  families,  education, 
places  of  residence,  and  such  like  circumstances.  I 
have  taken  no  small  pains  to  rectify  some  mistakes  of 
this  kind  ;  but  have  left  many  more  to  the  reader's  in 
dulgence.  But  as  I  can  have  no  interest  in  commit 
ting  errors  of  that  nature,  I  may  reasonably  expect  to 
be  charged  no  farther  with  them,  than  what  is  cus 
tomary. 

What  I  have  farther  to  add,  are  a  few  reflections  con 
cerning  the  title  of  this  work,  with  a  word  or  two  of 
directions,  to  prevent  the  reader  from  mistaking  my 
design.  In  the  first  place,  I  am  charged  with  styling 
Protestants  Reformers  ;  whereas  they  ought  not  to  be 
called  Reformers,  lout  pretending  Reformers :  also,  with 
inserting  several  writers,  who  appear  not  to  have  been 
in  communion  with  the  church  of  Rome,  and  with 
taking  the  same  liberty,  as  to  some  foreign  divines,  who, 
though  they  were  in  communion  with  Rome,  had  no 
right  to  be  taken  notice  of,  on  the  present  occasion : 
in  fine,  that,  where  I  pretend  to  give  an  account  of 
pedigrees,  I  have  not  done  it  to  satisfaction,  omitting 
several  families  of  note.  These  scruples  offering  them 
selves  at  my  first  drawing  up  the  title  of  the  work,  I 
satisfied  them  within  myself,  upon  the  following  re 
flections.  I  observed,  those,  that  deserted  the  com 
munion  of  the  church  of  Rome,  are  pleased  to  give 
themselves  the  title  of  Reformers.  Now,  whether  they 
really  did  reform  the  church,  or  only  pretended  to  do  it, 
is  a  matter  of  contest,  I  shall  not  directly  engage  in. 
In  history  and  conversation,  wTe  commonly  make  use  of 
such  appellations,  as  will  sufficiently  distinguish  per 
sons  and  parties,  without  entering  into  the  merits  of 
the  cause :  and,  as  usurpers  are  treated  with,  in  articles 


PREFACE.  XXvii 

of  peace,  upon  the  same  foot  with  lawful  sovereigns,  so 
I  was  willing  rather  to  follow  that  method,  than  detain 
the  reader  by  trying  titles.     As  for  inserting  persons  of 
another  persuasion  and   communion,    I  have,  indeed, 
sometimes  taken  that  liberty,    especially   during  the 
struggle  of  the  two  parties,  in  the  latter  end  of  Henry 
VIII. 's  reign,  under  Edward  VI.,  and  the  first  of  queen 
Elizabeth.     Religion,  in  those  days,  was  in  no  fixed 
state.     The  old  and  the  new  were  so  blended  together, 
both  as  to  doctrine  and  practice,  that,  almost  every 
month,  it  put  on  a  new  face.     And  when  the  Legisla 
ture  was  at  a  stand,  where  to  fix  the  terms  of  commu 
nion,  particular  persons  could  not  be  very  explicit  in 
their  belief.     The  generality   of  the  people,  in  those 
days,  by  their  complaisance  and  willingness  to  comply 
with  every  change,  seem  to  have  been  of  any  religion, 
that  was  capable  of  securing  their  property ;  so  that 
both  Protestants  and  Catholics,  by  what  I  can  find,  had 
an  equal  claim  to  most  of  them.     But  as  to  the  nicety 
of  this  enquiry,  I  shall  let  it  pass  ;  my  purpose  being  to 
take  notice  of  them  only  in  an  historical  way.     Many 
of  them  being  persons  of  singular  abilities  and  learning, 
I  thought  it  more  advisable  to  give  them  a  place  in  these 
collections,  rather  than  deprive  the  reader  of  the  satis 
faction  of  being  acquainted  with  several  particulars  con 
cerning  them ;  without  which,  the  story  of  those  days 
would  not  be  so  fully  understood.    As  to  foreign  writers, 
I  found  myself,  now  and  then,  obliged  to  take  notice 
of  them,  upon  account  of  a  certain  affinity  they  had 
contracted  with  the  English  Catholics,  by  their  joint 
labours.     What  I  have  mentioned  concerning  pedigrees 
is  altogether  incidental.     I  touch  them  only  as  they  fall 
in  my  way ;  and  if  I  have  omitted  many  families,  and 
spoke  with  less  exactness  of  others,  it  was  because  the 
matter  was  foreign  to  my  main  design. 


XXV111  THE  AUTHOR'S 

To  conclude  :  I  have  no  occasion  to  acquaint  the  pub 
lic,  that  they  are  not  to  expect  from  me,  upon  the 
present  occasion,  what  most  persons  seem  to  be  much 
delighted  with, — I  mean  the  entertainment  of  style  and 
fine  periods.  For,  as  I  have  frequently  been  obliged  to 
break  oif  the  thread  of  a  discourse,  and  throw  in  the 
rubs  of  names,  years,  and  quotations,  this  will  be  a 
considerable  abatement  to  the  pleasure,  the  reader 
might  otherwise  find  in  a  smooth  and  uninterrupted 
story.  However,  the  author  and  reader  will  fare  alike. 
It  has  been  porter's  work,  to  make  these  collections ; 
and  I  am  sorry,  that  those  I  design  to  oblige,  should 
share  of  the  drudgery.  Still,  I  am  in  hopes,  this  per 
formance  will  come  up  to  the  demands  of  the  title  I  have 
given  it ;  and  sufficiently  answer  both  the  expectation 
and  the  expense  of  the  curious.  I  might  allege,  how  im 
perfect  all  other  attempts  of  this  kind  have  been  ; 
whereas  here,  I  offer  a  complete  abridgment  of  the 
English  Church  History,  of  the  two  last  ages;  especially 
of  what  relates  to  Catholics.  It  will  also  serve  as  a 
key  to  Protestant  historians,  who  frequently  make  men 
tion  of  several  persons  ;  but  either  for  want  of  proper 
records,  or  because  they  are  not  willing  to  be  called  off 
from  the  subject  they  are  engaged  in,  leave  the  reader 
in  the  dark,  as  to  several  passages  concerning  them ; 
which  I  have  cleared  up  from  memorials,  they  could  not 
be  favoured  with.  I  also  flatter  myself,  that  matters  of 
fact  will  be  placed  in  a  better  light,  than  hitherto  they 
have  been  by  many  of  our  historians,  whether  Catholics 
or  Protestants,  who  have  frequently  imposed  upon  the 
credulous  and  unwary,  by  conjectures  and  partial  in 
sinuations. 


PREFACE.  XXIX 


A  LIST  of  the  Historians  and  Manuscripts  made 
Use  of  by  the  Author. 


CATHOLIC    HISTORIANS. 

Allen,  William Apolog.  pro  Semin.  Mont.  8vo.  1581. 

Epist.  de  Daventrise  rend.  Cracov.  8vo.  1588, 

Allegambe,  Philip De  Script.  Societ.  Jes.     Antv.  fol.  1643. 

Beccatelli,  Ludovicus. . .  .Vita  Cardinalis  Poli.     Venet.  8vo.  1563. 

Bacon,  Thomas Vindicise  Nich.  Smith.     Leodii,  8vo.  1631. 

Bagshaw,  Christopher   . .  A  Relation  of  the  Faction  in  Wisbich,  4to, 

1601. 
Declaratio     Motuum     inter     Jesuitas,    &e. 

Rhot.4>to.  1601. 
An   Answer   to   Father   Persons's  Apology. 

Pan's,  8vo.  1603. 

Baily,  Thomas   Life  of  Bishop  Fisher.     Lond.  8vo.  1655. 

Barnstaple,  Obertus Defen.  Mariae  Reg.  Scot.    Colon.  8vo.  1628. 

Bartoli,  Padre   Histor.   della    Comp.    de    Giesu   in  Inglet. 

Eomte,  1667. 
Barkley,  John    History   of    the   Gun-powder  Plot.     Oxon. 

12mo.  1634. 
Barns,  John Examen  Trophseorum  Bened.  Angl.    Rhem. 

8vo.  1622. 
Brichley,  William The    Christian     Moderator.     1652.     Three 

Parts. 

Bombinus,  Paulus Vita  Edm.  Campiani.     Antv.  12mo.  1618. 

Bossuet,  Jaques Histoire  des  Variations,  &c.     a  Paris,  8vo. 

1688. 
Bouchier,  Thomas De  Martyrio  quorundam  in  Angl.   Paris.  8vo. 

1586. 
Blount,  Thomas Boscobel ;   or,   King    Charles   II.'s   Escape. 

Lond.  8vo.  1660. 

Bridgwater,  John Concert.  Eccl.  Cath.  in  Angl.   Trev.  4to.  1594. 

Campion,  Edmund    . . .  .Narratio  de  Divortio.     Ingolst.  8vo.  1602. 
Carr,  Thomas    Pietas  Parisiensis.     Paris.  8vo.  1666. 


XXX  THE  AUTHOR'S 

Carrier,  Benjamin Missive  to  His  Majesty.     Liege,  4to.  1614. 

Cavendish,  Thomas    Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey.     Lond.  1590. 

Cellier,  Elizabeth Malice  defeated,     fol.  1680. 

Champney,  Anthony  ...  .A  Letter  to  a  Disjesuited  Gentleman.    4  to. 

1602. 
Chauncey,  Maurice   ....  Hist.  Martyr,  nostri  Sseculi.  Colon.  8vo.  1608. 

Colleton,John    A  just  Defence  of  slandered  Priests.    4to. 

1602. 

Con,  George   Vita  Marise  Stuart  Reg.     Roma,  8vo.  1624. 

Davenport,  Christopher.  .Hist.  Provincife  Min.  Angl.      Duaci,  1671. 
Supplementum  ejusdem  Hist.  Duaci,  1672. 

Dempster,  Thomas Hist.  Eccl.  Gent.  Scot.     Bononice,  4to.  1627. 

Ely,  Humphrey Notes  on  Father  Persons'  Apology,  8vo.  1602. 

Eudcemon Joannes Apolog.pro  Hen.  Garneto.  Colon.  8vo.  1610. 

Fenn,  John    Vita3  Martyr,  in  Angl.     Colon.  1594. 

Fitzherbert,  Nicholas Vita  Card.  Alani.     Roma,  8vo.  1608. 

Fitzherbert,  Thomas  ...  .A  Defence  of  the  Catholic  Cause.  St.  Omers, 
4to.  1602. 

Floyd,  John   Apolog.  Sedis  Apost.  Rhotom.  8vo.  1631. 

Spongia  contra  Decretum  Sorbonse. 
An  Answer  to  the   Bishop   of  Chalcedon's 
Instructions. 

Gennings,  John The  Life  of  Edmund  Gennings.    4to.  1617. 

Good,  William Eccl.  Angl.  Trophsea.     Roma,  1584. 

Grand,  Joachim  le    ....  Histoire    du  Divorce,  &c.     d  Paris,  3  vol. 

8vo.  1688. 
Harpsjield,  Nicholas. . .  .Dialogi  sex.     Auto.  4to.  1566. 

Historia  Eccl.  Angl.     Duaci,  fol.  1622. 

Hodgson,  John The  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  More.     Lond.  8vo. 

1602. 

Holland,  Hugh Horologia  Angl.    1620. 

Keep,  Henry Monumenta  Westm.     Lond.  8vo.  1682. 

Leech,  Humphfrey Triumph  of  Truth.     Doway,  8vo.  1609. 

Lesley,  John De  Jure  Successionis  apud  Scot.  Rhem.  1 580 

Leyburn,  John An  Encyclical  Answer.     Doway,  4to.  1661. 

An  Account  of  his  Agency  in  Ireland.  Lond. 
8vo.  1722. 

Lilly,  George Eulogia  Viror.  Illustr.     Venet.  8vo.  1548. 

Lutton,  Edward    The  Life  of  Mr.  Carr.     Paris,  1674. 

Mason,  Father Certamen  Seraphicum.     Duaci,  4to.  1649. 

Mayhew,  Edward Congr.  Angl.  Bened.  TrophsDa.    Rhem.  1619. 

Mircsus,  Aubertus Vitae  Script.  Belg.     Antv.  1609. 

More,  Thomas   The  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  More.     Svo.  1627. 


PREFACE.  XXXI 

Moor,  Henry Hist.  Missionis  Angl.  Societ.  Jesu.  fol.  1666. 

Orleans,  Father Histoire  des  Revol.  d'Angl.    d  Paris,  1693. 

Palmer,  Roger    The  Catholic  Apology.     8vo.  1674. 

Persons,  Robert The  three  Coversions  of  England,  8vo.  1604. 

A  Review  of  Ten  Disputations.    8vo.  1604. 
A  Discovery  of  John  Nichols.    8vo.  1581. 
Epist.  de  Persecut.  Angl.     Romce,  1582. 
Resp.  ad  Edictum  Reginse.  Roma,  8vo.  1593. 
A  Treatise  of  Mitigation.     4  to.  1607. 

Pattenson,  Matthew Jerusalem  and  Babel.     8vo.    1653. 

Petreius,  Theodorus  . . .  .Bibliotheca  Carthusiana.     Colon.Svo.  1609. 

Philip,  Morgan A   Defence   of   Mary   Queen   of  Scotland. 

Liege,  8vo.  1571. 

Pin,  Ellis  du Biblioth.  Ecclesiast.     Paris.  1698. 

Pitts,  John De  illust.  Angl.  Script.  Pan's.  4to.  1619. 

Possevinus,  Antonius. . .  .Apparatus  Sacer.     Colon,  fol.  1608. 

Proctor,  John    History  of  Wyat's  Rebellion.     1555. 

Pugh,  Robert Elenchus  Elenchi  against  Dr.  Bates.     Paris, 

8vo.  1664. 
De  Angl.  Cleri  Observantia,  &c.  Paris.  1659. 

Pulton,  Andrew A  Conference  with  Dr.  Tennison.     1687. 

Reformation,  Hi  story  of  the,  Anonymous.     8vo.  1685. 

Reyner,  Clement Apostolatus  Benedict,  in  Ang.  fol.  1626. 

Ribadeneira,  Petrus De  Script.  Societ.  Jesu.     Lugd.  fol.  1609. 

Hist,  del  Schis.  in  Ingl.     Madrid,  1595. 

Roper,  William The  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  More.  Oxford,  1717. 

Rushton,  Edward Hist.  Rerum  in  Turri  Londinensi.     1585. 

Salmonet,  Robert Hist,  de  Troubles  d'Angl.     d  Paris,  1661. 

Sanders,  Nicholas De  Schism.  Angl.     Colon.  8vo.  1585. 

Senensis,  Antonius     Biblioth.  Ord.  Praed.     Paris.  8vo.  1585. 

Smith,  Richard Prudential  Ballance.     8vo.  1609. 

Southwell,  Nathaniel     . .  Biblioth.  Script.  Societ.  Jesu.  Roma,  fol.  1676. 

Stapleton,  Thomas De  Tribus  Thomis.     Duaci,  8vo.  1588. 

Stany hurst,  Richard De  Rebus  Hibern.     Antv.  1584. 

Stafford's   Memoirs.     1681. 

Stevens,  Captain    Dngdale's  Monasticon  abridged.     1718. 

Touchet,  George     Historical  Collections.     Lond.  8vo.  1687. 

Valerius,  Andreas Fasti  Acad.  Lovan.     Lovan.  8vo.  1650. 

Biblioth.  Belg.     Lovan.  8vo.  1623. 

Walsh,  Peter The  Irish  justified,  &c.     8vo.  1661. 

Ward,  Thomas England's  Reformation.     4to.  1700. 

Watson,  William    Important  Considerations.    4to.  1601. 


XXxii  THE  AUTHOR'S 

Watson,  William    Decachordon  of  Ten  Quodlibets.     4to.  1602. 

White,  John   Diacosio-Martyrion.     Loud.  1556. 

Woodhead,  Abraham ....  An  Account   of  the   English   Reformation. 

Oxford,  1687. 

Worthington,  Thomas    .  .De  Origine  Seminariorum.     8vo.  1612. 
Yepes,  Diego    De  la  Persecut.  de  Inglat.     Madrid,  1599. 

PROTESTANT  HISTORIANS. 

Baker,  Richard Chronicles.     Fol.  1684. 

Bale,  John De  illust.  maj.  Brit.  Script.     Wesel.  1549. 

Bernard,  Nicholas The  Life  of  Bishop  Usher.     1656. 

Barwick,  John The  Life  of  Bishop  Morton.     1669. 

Bates,  George    Elenchus  Motuum  in  Angl.     1649. 

Bates,  William Vitse  Select.  Viror.     Lond.  4to.  1681. 

Brady,  Robert    History  of  England.     1685. 

Buchanan,  George Hist.  Rer.  Scot.     Edinb.  1582. 

Burnet,  Gilbert     History  of  the  Reformation.     1679. 

History  of  his  own  Time. 
Camden,  William Annales  Elisab.     1692. 

Britannia.     Lond.  1594. 

Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh Execution  of  Justice,  &c.     1583. 

Chaloner,  Thomas Viror.  illust.  Encomia.     1579. 

Clark,  Samuel    Lives  of  Eminent  Persons.     Fol.  1683 

Clarendon,  Lord    History  of  the  Civil  Wars.     1707. 

Collier,  Jeremy Ecclesiastical  History.     1708. 

Dugdale,  William Monasticon  Angl.     1661. 

History  of  Warwickshire. 

English  Baronage.     1676. 

Featley,  John Life  of  Daniel  Featley.     1660 

Foulis,  Henry    History  of  Popish  and   Presbyterian    Plots. 

1662. 

Fox,  John Acts  and  Monuments.     1632. 

Freherus,  Paulus    Theatr.  Viror.  Clar.     Norimb.  1688. 

Fuller,  Thomas Church  History. 

History  of  Worthies.     1 662. 

Gee,  John Foot  out  of  the  Snare.     Lond.  4to.  1624. 

Godwin,  Francis    De  Prassulibus  Angl.     1616. 

Hall,  Edward    Annals  since  Henry  VIII. 

Chronicles.     Fol.  1548. 

Harrington,  John A  brief  View  of  the  Church  of  England.  1653 

Herbert,  Edward The  Life  of  Henry  VIII.     Lond.  1672. 

Heylin,  Peter. History  of  the  Reformation.     Fol.  1661. 


PREFACE.  XXX111 

Hey  tin,  Peter Life  of  Archbishop  Laud.     1668. 

Examen  Historicum.     Lond.  8vo.  1659. 

Help  to  History.     Lond.  1641. 
Holling  shed,  Raphael    ..Chronicles.     1577- 
Humphreys,  Laurence   .  .Vita.  Joh.  Juelli.     8vo.  1573. 
James,  Thomas Eclo-Oxon-Cantabr.     Lond.  1600. 

Life  of  Father  Persons.     Oxon.  1612. 
Johnston,  Nathaniel  . . .  .King's  Visitatorial  Power.     1688. 

Assurance  of  Abbey-Lands.     1687. 

Langbain,  George Life  of  Sir  John  Cheek.     Oxon.  164-1. 

Langbain,  Gerard Account  of  Dramatic  Poets.     Oxon.  1691. 

L'Estrange,  Roger     History  of  the  Plot.     1680. 

Legenda  Lignea Account  of  Converts  to  the  Church  of  Rome. 

1653. 
Lewis,  Owen Running  Register  of  Papists  abroad.     1626. 

Catalogue  of  Colleges  and  Monasteries  abroad. 

1629. 

Mawn,  Francis Consecration  of  the  Church  of  England  vindi 
cated.     1613. 

Munday,  Anthony English  Roman  Life.     Lond.  4to.  1590. 

Nalson,  John Historical  Collections.     1683. 

Neivton,  Thomas    Illust.  Viror.  Encomia.     Lond.  1589. 

Nevil>  Andrew   De  Furore  Norfolcium  Duce  Ketto.     1575. 

Nicholson,  William    . . .  .English  Historical  Library.     1714. 

Nowel,  Alexander Conference  with  Campion.     1581. 

Parker,  Matthew   Antiq.  Eccl.  Britan.     1572. 

Philips,  Edward    Theatr.  Poetarum.     1675. 

Popes  Nuncio,    or  Panzani's  Negotiations.     Lond.  4to.  1643. 

Reynolds,  John Conference  with  Mr.  Hart.     Lond.  4to.  1588. 

Rushworth,  John    Collections,  in  8  vols.     1692. 

Sanderson,  William   ....  Life  of  Queen  Mary  and  King  James  I.  1656. 

Shirley,  John Life  of   Sir  Walter  Raleigh.      Lond.     8vo. 

1677. 

Simler,  Josephus Vita  Petri  Martyris.     Tigur.  1563. 

Spelman,  Henry De  non  Temerandis  Ecclesiis. 

Speed,  John Chronicles.     1631. 

Sprat,  Thomas History  of  the  Presbyterian  Plot.     1685. 

Storer,  Thomas Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey.    Lond.  4to.  1599. 

Stow,  John Chronicles.     1631. 

Stranguage,  William Life  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.     1624. 

Strype,  John Memoirs  of  Cranmer.     Fol.     1694. 

Life  of  Archbishop  Parker.     1711. 

Life  of  Archbishop  Grindal.     1710. 


XXXIV  THE  AUTHOR'S 

Tanner,  Thomas Notitia  Monastica.      Oxon.  8vo.     1695. 

Tyrell,  James History  of  England.     1 697. 

Udall,  William Life  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scotland.  Land.  8vo. 

1636. 

Wadsworth,  James English  Spanish  Pilgrim.     4to.     1630. 

Walton,  Isaac Life  of  Richard  Hooker. 

Walker,  Clement History  of  Independency.    Lond.  4to.    164-8. 

Weaver,  John Funeral  Monuments.     Lond.    Fol.     1 631 . 

Weldon,  Anthony Court  of  King  James  I.     1651 . 

Wharton,  John Specimen  of  Errors  in  Burnet.     1693. 

Whitehead,  David Account  of  the  Troubles,  &c.  in  Frankfort. 

1575. 

Wilson,  Arthur Life  of  King  James  I.     1653. 

Winstanley,  William Lives  of  English  Poets.     1687. 

Wood,  Anthony Athenee  Oxonienses.     1721. 

Hist,  et  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon. 


MANUSCRIPTS. 

Allen,  William Original  Letters  to  and  from  him. 

A  long  Letter  to  Father  Chauncey,  a  Car 
thusian. 

Instructiones  ad  Dr.  Vendeville. 

Facultates  concessse  a  Gregorio  XIII. 

Oratio  funebris  in  obit.  Alam.  Romse. 

Barberini,  Cardinal Original  Letters  to  Dr.  Gage,  &c. 

Bell,  Thomas Information  against  Roman  Catholics  in  1591. 

Folio. 
Benedictine  Monks Reasons  against  their  settling  at  Doway. 

Jesuits'  Informations  against  them. 

Letters  of  Benedictines  concerning  Bishops. 
Birket,  George,  Archpr. . .  Instructions  concerning  Doway  College. 

Letters  to  Father  Persons,  and  others. 

Bishop,  William Original  Letters  and  Papers. 

Bishops, A  List  of  Priests   who   petitioned  to   have 

Bishops. 

Another  List  to  the  same  purpose. 

Blond,  Richard,  a  Jesuit.  .Letters  to  Panzani  and  others. 
Brussels Account  of  the  Benedictine  Nuns'  Founda 
tion.     Diary. 

Button,  Richard A  discourse  concerning  Abbey  Lands. 

Cajetan,  Cardinal Original  Letters  to  several  Persons. 


PREFACE.  XXXV 

Carrier,  Benjamin Original  Letters  to  and  from  him. 

From  Cardinal  du  Perron. 

From  Isaac  Casaubon. 

From  Mr.  Trumbal,  Envoy  in  Flanders. 

From  Sir  Thomas  Lake,  Secretary  of  State. 

Dr.  Carrier  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
Chalcedon,  Bishop  of. . .  .De  Orig.  Controv.  cum  Regularibus. 

Treatise  in  French  of  his  Jurisdiction. 

Treatise  in  English  of  the  same  Subject. 
Chapter)  English Arguments  in  defence  of  the  Chapter. 

Chapter's  Power  asserted. 

Clanricard,  Earl Letter  to  Sir  John  Winter. 

Clergy,  Secular Their  Reasons  for  the  Spanish  Match. 

Summarium  Postulationum  contra  Regulares. 

Origo  Desidii  inter  Clerum  et  Jesuitas. 

Supplicatio  ad  Urban.  VIII.  tradita  Panzani. 
Clement  VIII.,  Pope. . .  .Original  Briefs  and  Letters. 

Clement  XL,  Pope Original  Briefs  and  Letters. 

Clifford,  William Original  Letters  and  Papers. 

Colleton,  John   Original  Letters  and  Papers. 

Cosens,  John,  Bishop  of  Durham.     Original  Papers  of  the  Form  of  Or 
dination. 
Daniel,  Edward Original  Letters  to  the  Bishop  of  Chalcedon. 

Treatise  of  Controversies,  in  fol. 

David,  Father,  a  Benedictine  Monk.     Reasons  against  Bishops  in  Eng 
land. 
Doway,  College Diary  of  the  House,  2  vol.  fol. 

Original  Letters  concerning  Jansenism. 

Dunkirk Foundation  of  the  Benedictine  Nuns.     Diary- 
Foundation  of  the  poor  Clares.     Diary. 

Elizabeth,  Queen Account  of  an  Insurrection  in  the  North. 

Ellis,  Philip,  Bishop ....  Original  Letters  to  several. 

England Status  Ecclesire  expulso  Chalced.  Episcopo. 

Divisio  Angl.  in  distr.  per  Chalced.    Episcop. 

Characters  of  eminent  Catholics  in  1635. 

Status  Relig.  Cath.  in  Angl.  anno  1632. 

Dispositiones  pravas  ante  Reformationem. 

Discourse  upon  the  Succession  after  Queen 

Elizabeth. 

Englejield,  Sir  Francis  .  .Original  Letter  to  Dr.  Allen. 
Evans,  Philip Account  of  his  Death. 

Exemptions Of  Regulars  in  England  before  the  Reforma^ 

tion. 


XXXIV  THE  AUTHOR'S 

Fane,  Maurice,  a  Spy  of  Walsingham's,  his  Confession. 

Felton,  John His  Daughter,  Mrs.  Salisbury's,  Account  of 

him. 
Fizherbert,  Thomas Several  Original  Letters  to  Mr.  Birket,  Arch- 

priest. 

Fitton,  Peter Original  Letters  to  several  Persons. 

Gage,  Francis    Original  Letters  to  several  Persons. 

Diary  of  his  Life,  in  his  own  hand. 

Garnet,  Henry Account  of  his  Death,  by  an  Eye-witness. 

Ghent Foundation  of  the  Benedictine  Nuns.   Diary. 

Godwell,  Thomas,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  Original  Letter  to  Dr.  Allen. 

Gofer,  John    Original  Papers  and  Letters. 

Green,  Hugh Account  of  his  Death,  by  an  Eye-witness. 

Gregory  XIII.  Pope  . . .  .Original  Briefs  and  Letters. 

Gregory  XIV.  Pope  ....  Original  Letter  to  Cardinal  Allen. 

Hales,  Sir  Edward   ....  Original  Letters  to  the  Duke  of  TyrconneL 

Heywood,  Father Custom  of  Feasts  and  Fasts  in  England  before 

the  Reformation. 
Howard,  Philip,  Cardinal,  Original  Letters  to  and  from  him. 

Hurst,  Richard Account  of  his  Death,  by  an  Eye-witness. 

JamesII.  King  of  England,  Letters   to   Pope  Innocent  XI.    concerning 

Father  Petre  and  the  Earl  of  Castlemain; 

with  the  Pope's  Answers. 

Jesuitesses Mr.  Godfather's  Account  of  them. 

Jones,  Robert,  Jesuit  ....  Original  Letters  to  Mr.  Birket,  Archpriest. 

Kellison,  Matthew Letters  to  and  from  him. 

Latham,  Francis Account  of  his  Examination,  by  himself;  and 

of  his  Death,  by  an  Eye-witness. 
Lesley,  William Original  Letters  from  Rome,  concerning  the 

Pope's  Vicars  in  England. 

Lewis,  Owen   Original  Letters  to  Dr.  Allen. 

Ley  burn,  George Original  Letters  to  several  Persons. 

Lisbon The  English  Ambassador's  Reception  in  that 

Court. 

Lisbon  College Account  of  its  Foundation. 

Lloyd,  John Account  of  his  Death. 

Lovain     Foundation  of  the  Augustin  Nuns.    Diary. 

Maestro,  Padre Reasons  for  his  being  made  choice  of  for  the 

Episcopal  Dignity  in  England. 
Mary,  Queen  of  England,  Narratio  de  Partu  ejus,  ann.  1629. 

Her  Letters  in  favour  of  the  Bishop  of  Chal- 

cedon. 
Martyr,  Peter A  Letter  to  Bullinger,  intercepted. 


PREFACE.  XXX  Vll 

Mayne,  Cttthbert His  Trial  and  Death. 

Mel  fort,  Earl Original  Letters  to  Sir  Edward  Hales. 

Middleton,  Anthony  . . .  .Account  of  his  Death. 

Montague,  Walter Original  Letters  to  and  from  him. 

Musket,  George Account  of  his  Trial,  by  himself. 

Napier,  George Account  of  his  Death. 

Navarr,  Martinus Sententia  ejus  de  Juramento  Seminariorum. 

Newman,  William Letters  to  Father  Blackfan,  a  Jesuit,  con 
cerning  Lisbon  College ;  with  Father  Black- 
fan's  Answers. 

Nuncios  of  Popes Original  Letters  to  several  Persons. 

Panzani,  Gregory His  Agency  in  England,  in  twenty  sheets,  in 

1635. 
Letters  to  and  from  him. 

Persons,  Robert Twenty-seven  Original  Letters  to  Mr.  Birket, 

Archpriest. 

Paris Foundation  of  St.  Gregory's  Seminary.  Diary. 

Foundation  of  the  Augustin  Nuns.  Diary. 
Foundation  of  the  Benedictin  Nuns.  Diary. 
Foundation  of  the  Conception  Nuns.    Diary. 

Paulucius,  Cardinal  ....Original  Letters  about  the  Charge  of  Jan 
senism  against  Doway  College. 

Pontoise Foundation  of  the  Benedictin  Nuns.    Diary. 

Pole,  Cardinal    Original  Letters  and  Despatches,  in  4  vol.  fol. 

Plunket,  Bishop Letters  to  Mr.  Corker,  with  Mr.  Corker's  An 
swers. 

Regulars The  Archpriest  and  his  twelve  Assistants'  Re 
monstrance  concerning  Regulars. 

Riff  by  f  John Account  of  his  Death. 

Roberts,  John Account  of  his  Death. 

Roman  College  of  'English,  Account  of  its  Revenues. 

De  corrupta  ejus  Administratione. 
Concordia  Scholarium  cum  Jesuitis. 
Disturbance  in  the  College,  ann.  1623. 
Rules  of  the  Roman  College. 
Petition  of  the  Priests  and  Students. 

Rouen Foundation  of  the  poor  Clares.  Diary. 

Sherwood,  Robert,  Benedictin  Monk,  Account  of  the  Jesuits'  Govern 
ment. 

Sixtus  V.  Pope Original  Briefs  and  Letters. 

Smith,  Richard,  Bishop  of  Chalcedon,  Original  Papers  and  Letters. 

Foreign  Ambassadors'  Letters  concerning  him. 
His  Case  stated,  by  himself. 
VOL.  I.  c 


XXXV111  THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

Style,  Henri/ Account  of  fifteen  Priests  executed,  in  nine 
teen  sheets. 

Suarez,  Francis His  Opinion  of  the  Jesuitesses. 

Tonrnaij  College  in  Paris,  History  of  its  Rise  and  Decay. 

Tregian,  Francis His  Life,  Trial,  and  Sufferings,  in  ten  sheets. 

Tyrconel,  Duke Original  Letters  to  Sir  Edward  Hales. 

ValladoUd De  Regimine  Collegii  Angl.  Vallisoleti. 

Res  ejus  ab  anno  1616,  ad  annum  1621. 

West,  Nicholas,  Bishop  of  Ely,  Letter  of  the  Prior  of  the  Carthusians 
to  him. 

Westmorland,  Earl Original  Letter  to  Dr.  Allen. 

White,  Thomas Original  Letters  to  several  Persons. 

His  Instructions  when  Agent  at  Rome. 
Original  Subscription  of  the  Clergy  against 
his  Doctrine. 

Wilson,  Henry Account  of  his  Death. 

Winter,  Robert Information  against  Dr.  Champney. 

Wisbich  Castle Articles  proposed  to  the  Priests  in  Prison. 

Account  of  the  Quarrel  between  the  Clergy 
and  Father  Weston,  a  Jesuit. 

Witkam,  George Queen  Mary's  Letter   to   the  Pope,    in   his 

Praise. 

Worthington*  Thomas  .  .  .Original  Letters  to  and  from  him. 
Wright,  Thomas His  Account  of  the  Archbishop  of  Spalato. 


THE 

CHURCH  HISTORY 

OF 

ENGLAND. 


PART  I. 


ARTICLE    I. 

A  GENERAL  IDEA  OF  THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH,  UNDER  THE 
BRITONS,  SAXONS,  AND  NORMANS,  FROM  THE  FIRST  CONVERSION, 
TILL  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

CENT.  IT  is  observed  both  by  historians  and  moralists,  that 
'•  there  seldom  happened  any  considerable  alteration 
either  in  the  management  of  public  affairs  or  private  life, 
without  some  previous  matters  which  disposed  mankind, 
and  made  them  susceptible  of  such  impressions.  Upon 
this  reflection,  I  am  induced  to  believe,  that  it  will 
neither  be  unseasonable,  nor  displeasing  to  the  reader, 
if  I  give  him  an  idea  of  the  state  of  ecclesiastical  affairs 
in  the  British,  Saxon,  and  Norman  reigns,  where  he  may 
meet  with  an  account  of  some  controversies,  which  very 
probably  might  be  a  kind  of  introduction  to  that  sur 
prising  revolution,  which  happened  in  the  reign  of  king 
Henry  VIII,  and,  by  comparing  times  past  with  those 
present,  be  more  capable  of  judging  of  the  equity  of  the 
cause. 

The  British  records  being  very  imperfect,  all  we  can 
gather  from  thence  is,  that  this  island  was  acquainted  with 
the  truths  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  earliest  times, 

VOL.  I.  B 


2  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i, 

or  apostolic  age  ;T  but  through  what  channel  this  hap 
piness  was  derived,  is  not  distinctly  made  appear  by 
any  of  our  historians.  Some  are  pleased  to  conjecture, 
that  Saint  Peter,  when  he  was  upon  his  mission  in  the 
west,  passed  over  into  Great  Britain  ;2  others  imagine, 
that  we  once  were  favoured  with  a  visit  from  Saint 
Paul.3  And  again,  there  are  those  who  give  us  the 
names  of  some  that  were  disciples  to  the  Apostles  ;  and 
wrho,  as  it  is  pretended,  were  sent  hither  as  missioners 
of  the  gospel.4  But  the  best  attested  account  is,  that 
Saint  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  with  several  companions  and 
fellow-labourers,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  first  Christian 
church  of  this  island,  at  Glastonbury,  in  Somersetshire, 
as  both  ancient  monuments,  the  tradition  of  the  British 
and  Saxon  churches,  and  the  generality  of  our  historians, 
both  ancient  and  modern,  do  give  testimony.5  But 
whatever  may  be  alleged  in  proof  of  these  particulars, 

1  Cerium  tamen  est,  Britannos  in  ipsa  Ecclesiae  infantia  Christianam  reli- 
gionem  imbibisse.     Camd.  Brit.  p.  45.  in  Edit.  1594. 

2  See  Metaplirastes,  Baronius.  Alredus,  and  Innocent  I,  cited  by  Persons, 
Three  conversions,  i.  19 — 21.     It  is  insinuated  also  by  Gildas,  ed.  Gale,  iii.  31. 
Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  1.  2.  c.  11,  13;  S.  Epiph.  Haeres.  27;  and  Stowe,  Annal.  p.  34. 

3  Transiit  oceanum,  vel  qua  facit  insula  portum, 
Quasque  Britannus  habet  terras,  quasque  ultima  Thule. 

Venant.  Fortun.  in  vita  S.  Martini,  I.  3. 

That  St.  Paul  preached  in  Spain,  and  in  the  West,  is  affirmed  by  Clemens 
(Epist.  ad  Corinth.),  St.  Jerome  (in  Amos,  c.  5.  v.  7),  Theodoret  (Tom.  iv. 
Serm.  9),  Epiphanius  (Haeres.  27.  p.  6),  SS.  Athanasius,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem, 
Chrysostome,  Gregory  the  Great,  &c. 

4  Dorotheus  (in  Synopsi),  Nicephorus  (1.  2.  c.  40),  and  the  Greek  Menology, 
(apud  Baron,  in  15  Martii  et  28  Octob.),  name  Aristobulus  and  Simon  Zelotes. 
[It  is  right,  however,  to  observe,  that,  as  far  as  St.  Simon  is  concerned,  these 
authorities  are  contradicted  by  the  Roman  Martyrology,  by  Bede,  Usuard,  Ado, 
and  others.— T.] 

5  See  Malmsb.  de  Antiq.  Glaston.,  Usher  de  Brit.  Eccl.  prim.  (p.  1 — 30), 
Baronius,  Bale,  and  the  charters  printed  in  Harpsfield  (p.  3.),  and  Dugd. 
Monast.  (i.  11, 13).     "  In  hac  (Somersetshire)  floruit  Monasterium  Glastonbury, 
quod  admodum  antiquam  repetit  originem,  a  Josepho  scilicet  Arimathensi  illo, 
qui  Christi  corpus  Sepulchre  mandarat,  quemque  Philippus,  Gallorum  apos- 
tolus,  in  Britanniam  misit,  ut  Christum  predicaret.     Hoc  enim  et  antiquissima 
hujus  monasterii  monumenta  testantur,  &c. :  nee  est  cur  hac  de  re  ambigamus," 
(Camd.  Brit.  p.  162,  ed.  1594). 

[However,  notwithstanding  this  authoritative  assertion  of  Camden,  the  story 
of  St.  Joseph's  connexion  with  Glastonbury,  like  the  other  legends  mentioned 
in  the  text,  is  now  universally  rejected.     I  may  add,  that  Leland,  who,  in  the 
former  edition  of  the  present  work,  was  cited  as  an  authority  in  its  favour,  ex 
pressly  says  that  he  disbelieves  it.     "  Duce  quodam  Josepho,  sed  nan  illo,  nisi 
fo  plurimum  fallor,  Arimathiano"     De  Script.  Brit.  p.  20.  in  Meduino  et 
Ivano.— r.] 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  3 

and  whether  all,  or  only  some  of  them,  performed  their 
mission  among  us  (either  of  which  may  be  maintained 
without  any  inconsistency),  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  account 
in  general  for  the  means,  whereby  we  might  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  faith,  in  those  early  times.  For 
in  those  days,  as  the  Roman  History  informs  us,  there 
was  a  continual  correspondence  between  Great  Britain 
and  Rome,  to  which  city  the  Britons  were  sometimes 
carried  prisoners,  whilst  others  travelled  thither  out  of 
curiosity,  and  many  were  obliged  to  appear  there  to 
transact  the  affairs  of  their  nation  with  the  Romans,  to 
whom  they  were  become  tributary.  Now,  as  there 
were  a  great  many  Christians  at  that  time  in  Rome, 
among  whom  some  were  persons  of  distinction,  and  be 
longed  to  the  court,1  the  Britons,  that  resorted  thither, 
could  not  want  an  opportunity  of  being  informed  of  the 
Christian  religion.  But  whoever  was  the  first  planter 
of  Christianity  among  us  (which  in  itself  is  no  very 
material  point),  I  cannot  but  take  notice  of  the  motives, 
which  have  induced  some  writers  to  make  choice  of  one 
opinion  rather  than  another.  Some  are  willing  to  de 
prive  Saint  Peter  of  the  glory  of  this  work,  out  of  a 
particular  respect  they  have  for  his  supremacy,  and  for 
fear  they  should  become  indebted  to  the  see  of  Rome 
upon  that  account.  The  like  inducement  they  have, 
not  to  allow  of  the  story  of  Saint  Joseph  of  Arimathea ; 
so  early  an  instance  of  monastic  discipline  not  being 
very  consistent  with  the  economy  of  our  modern 
churches,  who  style  themselves  reformed.  They  seem 
more  disposed  to  give  the  honour  to  Saint  Paul,  or  any 
other  apostolic  preacher,  where  they  do  not  lie  under 
the  like  apprehensions. 

To  proceed  to  the  second  century.    We  may  very 
rationally  suppose,  that  those,  who  came  over  to 
plant  the  gospel  in  this  island,  made  some  sort  of  pro 
gress,  so  far  as  to  instruct  several  particular  persons  and 

1  See  Tacitus,  Annal.  lib.  12,  Martial,  lib.  xi.  Epigr.  54,  and  lib.  iv.  Epigr. 
13,  and  S.  Paul,  2  Tim.  iv.  21,  who  mentions  Pudens  and  Claudia,  the  same 
persons,  probably,  whose  marriage  is  celebrated  by  Martial.  In  his  epistle  to 
the  Philippians  (iv.  22),  the  apostle  speaks  of  the  brethren  "  de  domo  Caesaris." 

B  2 


CENT. 
II. 


4  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

families  ;  nay,  we  have  very  good  grounds  to  think, 
from  what  happened  not  long  after,  that  the  generality 
of  the  inhabitants  had  conceived  a  favourable  opinion 
of  the  Christian  religion  from  the  preaching  and  be 
haviour  of  those  holy  labourers.  For  in  this  age,  a 
British  king,  called  Lucius,  sent  agents  to  Eleutherius, 
bishop  of  Rome,  upon  the  subject  of  his  conversion, 
which  was  effected  by  Fugatius  and  Damianus,  and 
other  preachers  who  were  appointed  for  that  work  ;  by 
whose  means,  not  only  king  Lucius  was  reconciled  to 
the  Christian  faith,  but  it  was  attended  with  a  kind  of 
general  conversion,  and  an  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy  was 
•established  under  the  direction  of  bishops  and  inferior 
clergy.  All  this  is  attested  by  ancient  monuments, 
good  authentic  history,  ancient  and  modern,  and  the 
constant  tradition  of  the  British  church  ;l  and  question 
less,  the  ancient  fathers,  Tertullian,  Origen,  and  Theodo 
re  t,  had  a  regard  to  this  conversion,  when  they  signified, 
that  Great  Britain  had  embraced  the  christain  religion 
before  their  time.2  Indeed,  our  ancient  historians  are 

1  Cum  Eleutherius,  vir  sanctus,  pontificatui  Romanae  ecclesiae  praeesset,  misit 
ad  eum  Lucius,  Britannorum  rex,  epistolam,  obsecrans,  ut  per  ejus  man  datum 
christianus  efficeretur.     Et  mox  effeetum  pise  postulationis  consecutus  est. 
Bede,  1.  1,  c.  4.     See  also  Gildas,  p.  11,  Nennius,  c.  18,  p.  103,  the  Ancient 
Book  of  Landaff,  apud  Dugd.  Monast.  III.   188,  Cains'  Hist,  of  Cambr., 
the  Author  of  the  Antiq.  Brit.,  Usher  de  Primord.  Eccl.  Brit.,  Leland,  Bale,  the 
Saxon  and  Norman  Historians  in  general,  and  Godwin  de  Prasul.  in  the  life  of 
Paulinus,  Archbishop  of  York.     "  It  cannot  be  denied,"    says  Fuller,  "  but 
Eleutherius,  bishop  of  Rome,  at  the  request  of  Lucius,"  &c.  (Church  Hist.  1.  1. 
p.  10).     "  This  account  seems  to  have  been  the  original  tradition  of  the  British 
church."     (Collier,  Eccl.  Hist.  i.  13).     "  That  there  were  British  Bishops  in 
Lucius's  time,  is  without  question."  (Id.  p.  14). 

[To  elude  the  argument,  suggested  by  this  transaction,  in  favour  of  the  papal 
supremacy,  the  last  writer  says,  that  "  a  bishop  being  fixed  at  Rome,  the  twelfth 
in  succession  from  the  apostles,"  the  application  of  Lucius  was  prompted,  not 
by  "  any  opinion  of  a  supremacy,  settled  by  St.  Peter  on  the  bishop"  of  that  see, 
but,  in  all  probability,  by  the  reflection,  that  "  the  Christian  religion  was  taught 
there  without  mixture  or  sophistication."  (I.  17).  Of  the  precise  motives, 
which  influenced  the  conduct  of  Lucius  on  this  occasion,  we  can  know  nothing. 
The  facts,  however,  remain  undisputed;  and  from  them  we  learn,  1st,  that  he 
applied,  not  to  the  neighbouring  prelates  of  Gaul,  but  to  the  more  distant 
bishop  of  Rome ;  2nd,  that  he  obtained  his  spiritual  instructions  from  the 
Roman  see ;  and  3rd,  that,  of  course,  the  religion,  which  he  embraced,  was  the 
religion  taught  and  practised  among  the  Christians  of  the  Roman  capital. —  T.~] 

2  Britannorum  inaccessa  Romanis  loca,  Christo  vero  subdita  (Tertul.  contra 
Judseos,  n.  7).     Virtus  Domini  Salvatoris  et  cum  his  est,  qui  ab  orbe  nostro  in 
Britannia  dividuntur  (Origen,  Homil.  6.  in  Luc.  1).     Tavrri  (Trtora)  (rv^rifpot. 
Tvy%®.vuaiv  Trdaai  a'i  Kara  TOTTOV  e/c/cXjjotrti,  at  re  Kara  rr\v  STraviav  Kal  Bptrra- 
vlav  Kal  raXXiatr,  K.  T.  X.    Theod.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  4.  c.  3. 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  5 

very  concise  in  the  account  they  give  of  king  Lucius ;, 
but  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  an  historian  of  the  twelfth 
century,  has  given  us  many  particulars.  He  tells  us, 
that,  in  king  Lucius's  time,  there  were  founded  three 
archiepiscopal,  and  twenty-eight  episcopal,  sees,  and  that 
the  former  were  placed  at  London,  York,  and  Caerleon, 
with  some  other  particulars  not  to  be  met  with  in  any 
historian  before  his  time.  I  own,  Geoffrey  Monmouth's 
credit  is  but  very  indifferent  among  the  critics;  yet  we 
are  not  to  quarrel  with  the  substance  of  a  fact  (in  which 
he  agrees  with  others  of  good  reputation)  upon  account 
of  his  superstructures.  Besides,  Geoffrey  Monmouth  has 
his  advocates,  as  well  as  antagonists,  in  many  points, 
wherein  the  critics  call  his  veracity  and  judgment  into 
question.  And  as  to  the  present  case,  concerning  his 
additions  to  the  account  of  king  Lucius,  it  may  be 
alleged  in  his  favour,  that  he  quotes  Gildas,  whose 
works  are  now  lost,  as  Gildas  himself  complains,  that 
the  records  of  the  British  church  were  in  a  manner  all 
lost  or  destroyed  before  his  time.1  Again,  the  three 
cities  Geoffrey  Monmouth  makes  mention  of,  being  epis 
copal  sees  of  the  largest  jurisdiction  in  the  ensuing  ages, 
and  several  ages  after,  is  a  circumstance  favouring  the 
account  he  gives  of  them  :  and  both  Gildas  and  Bede, 
speaking  of  twenty-eight  cities  among  the  Britons, 
though  they  do  not  call  them  episcopal  sees,  is  another 
circumstance,  not  to  be  disregarded  by  those,  who  pre 
tend  to  expose  Geoffrey  Monmouth  as  a  fabulous  writer.2 
But  what  grounds  soever  this  historian  might  have  for 

1  Scripta  patriae,  scriptorumve  monumenta,  si  quae  fuerint,  aut  ignibus  hos- 
tium  exusta,  aut  civium  exulum  classe  longius  deportata,  non  comparent. 
De  Excid.  Brit.  p.  10. 

[Matthew  Westminster,  who  adopts  the  account  given  by  Geoffrey,  has  pre 
served  the  title  of  Gildas' s  work,  from  which  it  was  evidently  taken.  Speaking  of 
Fugatius  and  Damianus,  the  missionaries  sent  from  Rome  at  the  request  of  Lu 
cius,  he  says,  "  Istorum  autem  nomina  et  actus  in  libro  reperiuntur,  quern 
Gildas  historicus  de  Victorid  Aurelii  Ambrosii  conscripsit."  Ad.  an.  186. — TJ] 

2  Gildas  (p. 9),  Bede  (1. 1.  c.  1),  Nennius  (c.  2),  and  Usher  (in  Primord.  p.  59), 
mention   the  twenty-eight  cities   of    Britain.      [Alford,   however,  though  he 
strenuously  supports  Geoffrey's  account,  understands,  not  that  twenty-eight 
bishoprics  were  actually  erected  at  this  time,  but  that  a  plan  for  their  future 
erection  was  now  adopted  (annal.  i.  157 — 160).     Certainly,  this  interpretation 
divests  the  story  of  much  of  its  improbability. — 7Y| 


6  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

the  particulars  mentioned,  he  deserves  credit,  where  he 
stands  not  alone  as  to  the  substance  of  his  account, 
which  some  are  pleased  to  attack  from  very  weak  con 
jectures.  For  instance,  they  would  be  informed, 
whether  Lucius  was  sole  monarch  of  Great  Britain,  or 
only  one  of  the  petty  princes  ?  If  the  first,  how  is  this 
consistent  with  the  Roman  history,  which  tells  us,  that, 
in  those  days,  the  island  was  subject  to  the  emperor  ? 
If  the  latter,  what  authority  could  a  petty  prince  have 
to  establish  Christianity,  in  provinces  where  he  had  no 
jurisdiction  ?  Again,  say  they,  is  it  credible  that  either 
the  Britons  or  the  Romans,  who  were  generally  Heathens, 
would  suffer  so  universal  a  change  in  their  religious 
worship  ?  The  insignificancy  of  these  exceptions  will 
appear  manifestly  from  what  all  persons  are  supposed 
to  judge,  in  cases  of  the  like  nature.  Are  historical 
facts,  well  supported  in  the  main,  to  be  rejected  entirely , 
because  they  do  not  tally  with  our  idle  speculations,  or 
because  we  cannot  be  fully  informed  of  every  circum 
stance  that  attended  them  ?  Every  historian  is  not  dis 
posed  to  trouble  the  world  with  particulars ;  many 
records  are  lost,  wherein  those  particulars  are  mentioned, 
and  it  is  by  both  these  ways  that  we  are  deprived  of  a 
more  satisfactory  account,  concerning  the  conversion  of 
this  kingdom  under  king  Lucius,  though  the  story  in 
substance  is  incontestable.  If  I  may  be  permitted  to 
supply  all  defects,  by  conjectures  which  may  be  naturally 
made  upon  the  story,  there  is  no  inconvenience  in  allow 
ing  king  Lucius  to  be  sole  monarch  of  Great  Britain, 
who,  at  the  same  time,  might  be  tributary,  and  under 
subjection  to  the  Romans  ;  for  such  kind  of  govern 
ments  always  were,  and  still  are,  in  use  in  all  parts  of 
the  world.  But  in  case  Lucius  was  only  a  petty  prince 
(which  seems  most  probable,  according  to  the  account 
which  Julius  Csesar  and  other  Roman  historians  give  of 
the  British  government),  he  might  make  use  of  his  in 
terest  to  propagate  the  gospel  in  other  petty  kingdoms, 
where  he  had  no  jurisdiction,  especially  if  other  princes 
were  as  well  disposed  as  himself;  a  thing  we  may 
rationally  suppose,  considering  that  they  came  into  his 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  7 

measures.  I  own,  we  are  not  able  to  satisfy  every 
critic's  curiosity,  how  those  matters  were  brought  about, 
yet  we  may  be  sure  it  was  a  work  of  time.  Historians 
often  bring  things  into  a  small  compass,  and  a  few  lines 
contain  wrhat  was  half  an  age  before  it  could  be  brought 
to  perfection.  And  though,  upon  such  occasions,  the 
circumstances  of  time,  place,  and  persons  are  omitted, 
they  are  always  to  be  supposed.  And  as  to  this  point, 
there  is  nothing  particular  in  the  conversion  of  the 
Britons ;  many  other  nations  are  unprovided  with 
records,  that  can  give  a  distinct  account  of  the  first 
planting  of  Christianity  among  them.  From  hence  we 
may  easily  return  an  answer  to  the  last  query,  how  the 
Britons  and  Romans,  who  were  heathens,  can  be  thought 
to  have  suffered  such  a  public  alteration  in  their  reli 
gious  worship  ?  For  it  is  probable  that  king  Lucius, 
and  the  rest  that  concurred  with  him,,  did  meet  with 
some  opposition,  as  we  find  there  was  great  opposition 
when  the  gospel  was  planted  at  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  and 
Rome  ;  but  we  have  grounds  to  think  circumstances 
were  more  favourable,  when  king  Lucius  attempted  that 
great  work.  The  Britons  were  well  disposed  to  receive 
the  gospel ;  and  as  for  the  Romans,  they  were  not  so 
solicitous  about  the  religion,  as  the  riches  and  posses 
sions,  of  the  inhabitants.  Besides,  at  that  time,  A.D. 
the  emperor  had  set  forth  an  edict  in  favour  of  176 
Christianity,  which  he  was  induced  to,  upon  account  of 
a  remarkable  victory  he  had  obtained  by  the  courage 
and  prayers  of  the  Christian  soldiers  that  were  employed 
in  his  wars  ;  of  which  ancient  writers,  both  heathens 
and  Christians,,  give  a  particular  account.1 

The  Christian  religion  having  thus  got  an  estab-  CENT. 
lishment  in  this  kingdom,  in  the  second  century,  it  m» IV- 
met  with  no  interruption  during  the  next  age,  as  Gildas 
and  Bede  relate,  where  they  tell  us,  that  the  persecution 
under  Dioclesian,  which  began  about  the  beginning  ^ 
of  the  fourth  century,  raged  furiously  in  the 

1  Xiphilin  in  Dionc,   vit.  Marc.  Aurel. ;  Euscbius,  Hist.  lib.  v.  c.  5  ;  Greg. 
Nyss.  Gratia 2 in  40  Martyr.;  Tertul.  Apol.  c.  5.  ad  Scapulam,  c.  4. 


8  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

British  church,,  and  carried  off  those  eminent  professors 
of  Christianity,  St.  Alban,  Julius,  Aaron,  Amphibalus, 
&C.1  Bede,  who  seldom  toucheth  upon  the  British 
affairs  (his  design  being  only  to  write  the  Saxon  history), 
has  yet  given  us  some  particulars  concerning  Saint 
Alban,  especially  of  the  miracles  that  were  wrought  at 
his  execution,  viz.  that  the  executioner's  eyes  dropt 
out,  upon  which  he  became  a  Christian ;  that  a  river 
was  dried  up  for  the  people  to  pass  over ;  that  a 
fountain  sprung  up  at  his  feet  where  he  knelt  down  to 
pray,  before  his  execution.  The  account  of  these 
British  martyrs  is  mentioned  and  approved  of  by 
the  best  historians  of  our  country,  both  ancient  and 
modern.2 

"  This  relation  of  St.  Alban's  martyrdom,"  says 
Collier,  "  which  Bede  has  inserted  in  his  Ecclesiastical 
History  without  making  the  least  question  of  the 
authority,  used  likewise  to  be  read,  upon  St.  Alban's 
anniversary,  in  the  English  church,  before  the  Norman 
conquest,  as  appears  by  the  Saxon  copy  in  the  Cam 
bridge  edition  of  Bede" "It  agrees  exactly 

with  a  very  ancient  account,  written  in  the  Yerulamian, 
or  British  language,  as  Matthew  Paris  informs  us. 
The  account,  translated  out  of  British  into  Latin  by 
one  Unwo,  a  priest,  may  be  seen  in  archbishop  Usher, 
W7ho  likewise  takes  notice  of  an  old  inscription,  dug  up 
in  St.  Alban's  church,  in  the  year  1257,  with  these 
words  :  '  In  this  mausolseum  was  found  the  venerable 
corpse  of  St.  Alban,  the  protomartyr  of  Britain.'3  This 
inscription  upon  a  leaden  plate  is  thought  to  have 
been  made  in  the  reign  of  king  Offa. 

"  The  miracles  of  a  fountain  breaking  out  at  St. 

1  Quse  (prsecepta),  licet  ab  incolis  tepicle  suscepta  sunt,  apud  quosdam  tamen 
integre,  et  alios  minus,  usque  ad  persecutionem  Dioclesiani  tyranni,  perman- 
sere  (Gildas,  c.  7).     Susceptam  fidem  Britanni,  usque  in  tempora  Dioclesiani 
principis,  inviolatam,  integramque  quieta  in  pace  servabant.     Bede,  1.  I.e.  4. 

2  Gildas,  c.  8.  Bede,  1.1.  c.  7;  Venant.  Fortun.  1.  8.  c.  4,  de  Virgin.  "  Vero- 
lamienses  ejus  martyrium  marmori  inscripserunt,  mcenibusque  inseruerunt :  sed 
postea,  cum  tyrannorum  immanitatem  martyrum  sanguis  vicisset,  christiani 
ecclesiam,  mirandi,  ut  inquit  Beda,   operis,  in  ejus  memoriam  posuerunt." 
Camd.  Brit.  305.  Ed.  1594. 

3  Usher,  Antiq.  Brit.  Eccl.  e.  7. 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  9 

Alban's  feet,  and  the  executioner's  eyes  dropping  out 
of  his  head,  are  unmentioned  by  Gildas,  who  only 
takes  notice  of  his  drying  up  a  passage  in  the  river. 
But  then  we  are  to  observe,  that  Gildas  is  very  brief, 
and  does  not  seem  to  design  a  detail  of  circumstances. 
And  to  show  that  Bede  is  not  singular  in  recount 
ing  these  miracles,  Ado  Viennensis,  Rabanus  Maurus, 
Notkerus,  and  Matthseus  Florilegus,  affirm  the  same 
thing. 

"As  for  St.  Alban's  miracles,  being  attested  by  au 
thors  of  such  antiquity  and  credit,  I  do  not  see  why 
they  shoiild  be  questioned.  That  miracles  were 
wrought  in  the  church  at  this  time  of  day,  is  clear 
from  the  writings  of  the  ancients.  To  suppose  there 
are  no  miracles  but  those  in  the  bible,  is  to  believe 
too  little.  To  imagine  that  God  should  exert  his 
omnipotence,  and  appear  supernaturally  for  his  ser 
vants  in  no  place  but  Jewry,  and  in  no  age  since  the 
apostles,  is  an  unreasonable  fancy ;  for,  since  the 
world  was  not  all  converted  in  the  apostles'  times,  and 
God  designed  the  farther  enlargement  of  his  church, 
why  should  we  not  believe  he  should  give  the  Pagans 
the  highest  proof  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and 
honour  his  servants  with  the  most  indisputed  creden 
tials  ?  Now,  if  this  is  very  reasonable  to  suppose, 
why  should  St.  Alban's  miracles  be  disbelieved,  the 
occasion  being  great  enough  for  such  an  extraordinary 
interposition?"1  And  to  carry  the  same  reflection 
down  to  after-ages,  where  there  was  a  like  occasion  for 
God  to  show  his  power,  and  the  general  concurrence  of 
historical  credit  to  witness  the  facts,  why  may  we  not 
afford  the  same  belief  to  those  wonderful  operations, 
which  are  recounted  of  St.  Germanus,  when  he  main 
tained  the  cause  of  the  church  against  the  Pelagians  ? 
of  St.  Augustin,  when  he  converted  the  Saxons  ?  of  St. 
Boniface,  when  he  preached  to  the  Germans  ?  and  of 
St.  Xaverius,  when,  in  these  latter  ages,  he  carried  the 
gospel  into  the  Indies  ?  To  allege,  that,  upon  these 

1  Collier,  Eucl,  Hist.  i.  22. 


10  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

latter  occasions,  all  was  trick  and  contrivance  to  sup 
port  a  party,  is  a  desperate  plea,  not  only  rendering 
historical  credit  useless,  and  exposing  Christianity  to 
the  reproaches  of  infidels,  but  even  sapping  the  founda 
tion  of  all  Christ's  miracles,  which  the  Jews  attacked 
by  the  same  method. 

The  persecution  under  Dioclesian  having  caused  a 
great  destruction  in  the  British  church,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  fourth  century,  it  did  not  recover  itself  till  the 
emperor  Constantine  the  Great,  becoming  a  Christian, 
by  public  edicts  ordered  all  the  old  churches  to  be  re 
paired,  and  new  ones  to  be  built,  with  permission  to  the 
faithful  to  annex  what  lands  they  pleased  to  them, 
towards  the  support  of  the  bishops  and  clergy,  who 
now  appeared  out  of  their  lurking-holes,  and  with  great 
joy  were  recalled  from  the  slavery  and  banishment  they 
had  been  confined  to,  during  the  late  general  persecu 
tion.1  Great  Britain,  among  other  parts  of  the  empire, 
shared  of  this  blessing  ;  and  though  our  records  furnish 
us  not  with  many  particulars,  yet  several  persons  are 
made  mention  of,  even  in  the  beginning  of  this  age,  as 
eminent  professors  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  first, 
Helena,  mother  to  Constantine  the  Great,  daughter  of 
Coilus,  a  British  prince.  To  her  we  may  join  Constan- 
tius,  father  to  Constantine,  who,  towards  the  latter  end 
of  his  days,  became  a  Christian,  and  died  at  York.~ 
Again,  we  read  of  Iltutus  and  Gudwallus,  two  British 
bishops,  who  very  probably  were  of  those  prelates  that 
had  survived  the  persecution.  Now  also,  we  have  an 
account  of  two  monasteries  being  founded,  one  at  Win 
chester,  another  at  Abingdon  ;  and  if  the  monastery  of 

1  "  About  four  years  before  the  council  of  Nice,  Ccnstantine  set  forth  the 
famous  constitution,  extant  in  the  Theodosian  code  (16  Tit.  2,  1.  4),  by  which 
all  persons  are  left  at  liberty  to  bequeath  what  they  think  fit,  by  will,  to  the 
catholic  churches  of  Christians"  (Collier,  ib.  37).     Besides  what  is  here  taken 
notice  of  by  Collier,  it  may  be  farther  observed,  that  Christianity  had  got  a  pretty 
good  establishment  before  Constantine,  by  the  connivance  of  several  emperors, 
especially  of  Philip,  who,  about  246,  was  privately  a  Christian,  as  several  good 
historians  give  an  account.     See  Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.  1.  6,  c.  34 ;  Vincent. 
Lirin.  Commonit.  c.  23;  Orosius,  1.  7,  c.  13,  and  the  acts  of  St.  Pontius,  apud 
Surium,  To.  7,  die  14  Maii. 

2  Euseb.  in  Vit.  Constant,  c.  17;  Zonoras,  Annal.  1.  2. 


ART.  i.]  BUTTONS.  11 

Glastonbury  was  not  a  religious  community  in  the 
infancy  of  the  British  church,  it  was  so  at  least  in  this 
century ;  for  St.  Patrick,  a  Briton,  was  born  about  the 
year  361,  and,  as  our  antiquities  give  an  account,  had  a 
great  part  of  his  education  in  that  monastery,  where  he 
lived  near  thirty  years.1  Towards  the  latter  end  of  this 
age,  as  Bede  reports,  one  Ninian,  a  learned  and  zealous 
British  priest,  who  had  some  time  been  educated  at 
Rome,  was  sent  from  thence  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
southern  Picts,  which  he  performed  with  great  success  ; 
and  having  converted  a  vast  number  of  the  inhabitants, 
he  became  a  bishop,  and  had  his  see  at  a  place  in  Gal 
loway,  formerly  called  White-hern,  or  Candida  Casa.2 
About  this  time  also,  some  pains  were  taken  to  spread 
the  gospel  in  Ireland,  the  inhabitants  being  then  called 
Scoti ;  for  when,  in  the  next  age,  Palladius  was  sent 
from  Rome  to  instruct  them,  it  appeared  that  some  of 
them  had  a  knowledge  of  Christianity  before  he  came 
among  them.3 

This  is  the  account  we  have  of  the  British  church  at 
home.  But  besides,  we  have  some  information  from 
abroad,  wrhere,  as  authentic  records  report,  several 
British  bishops  appeared,  and  sate  in  those  councils 
which  were  called  to  suppress  the  Arian  heresy.4  The 
same  historians  inform  us,  that  the  British  Christians  of 
the  fourth  century  frequently  visited  Rome,  Jerusalem, 

1  Patricius,  Hiberniensium  apostolus,  qui  xxx  annos  vitam  monasticam  hie 
egit. — Camd.  Brit.  p.  162,  Ed.  1594.  [It  is  now,  however,  acknowledged,  that 
the  monk  of  Glastonbury  and  the  apostle  of  Ireland  were  different  persons.  The 
former  was  the  elder.  See  Butler's  Saints,  March  17. — T.~] 

•  Bede,  1.  3,  e,  4;  Harpsfield,  p.  35;  Camd.  Brit.  629,  Ed.  1594.  He  tra 
velled  to  the  holy  see,  where  "  his  learning  and  exemplary  life  made  the  pope 
take  notice  of  him,  who  is  said  to  have  sent  him  back  to  Britain."  Collier,  i.  43. 

3  Prosper  in  Chron.,  who  says  he  was  sent  "  ad  Scotos  in  Christum  credentes." 
He  also  calls  the  country  an  island,  which,  as  Usher  observes  (Antiq.  Brit. 
Eccl.  173,  416),  cannot  be  understood  of  Scotland. 

4  Aries,  Sardica,  Ariminum,  and  perhaps  Nice.    The  names  of  the  British 
bishops,  at  Aries,  were,  Eborius  of  York,  Restitutus  of  London,  and  Adelphius, 
bishop  "  de  civitate  colonia  Londinensium"  which  may  have  been  Caerleon. 
See  Sirmond,  Condi.  Gal.  i.  9  ;  Sulpit.  Sever.  Hist.  Sac.  1.  2  ;  Athanas.  Apo- 
log.  2 ;  et  Epist.  ad  Solit.  Vitam.  agentes ;  and  Collier  i.  25-37.     [The  last 
writer  has  shown  that  the  "  civitas  colonia  Londincnsium  "  was  probably  an 
error  of  the  copyist  for  "  civitas  colonia  Legionis  1 1,"  which  was  certainly  Caer 
leon.—  r. 


12  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

and  other  remarkable  places,  whither  the  faithful  of 
other  nations  usually  resorted  to  pay  their  devotions  ;* 
and  particular  mention  is  made  of  their  travelling  to 
have  a  sight  of  the  famous  Simon  Stylites,  whose  mira 
cles  and  extraordinary  way  of  living  was  a  subject  of 
admiration  to  all  parts  of  the  world.2  But  it  proved 
very  unfortunate  both  to  the  British  church  and  state, 
when,  about  the  year  379,  Maximus,  the  Roman 
governor,  carried  out  of  the  kingdom  an  incredible 
number  of  the  inhabitants,  in  order  to  employ  them  in 
his  rebellion  against  the  emperors  Gratian  and  Valen- 
tinian ;  for,  as  Gildas  reports,  they  never  saw  their  own 
country  again ;  and  it  is  thought  some  of  them  were 
placed  in  Armorica,  now  called  Little  Britain.  Now 
the  misfortune  was,  the  drawing  out  of  these  Britons, 
and  the  Roman  legions  being  afterwards  called  over  to 
defend  their  own  country,  by  this  means  the  Britons 
were  become  incapable  of  maintaining  their  ground 
against  the  Picts,  which  obliged  them  to  invite  the 
Saxons  over  to  assist  them  ;  and  this  piece  of  manage 
ment  proved  at  last  to  be  their  ruin.3 
CENT.  In  the  next  place,  let  us  take  a  view  of  the  Bri- 
v-  tish  church  in  the  fifth  century,  which  presents  us 
with  a  dismal  scene  of  confusion,  when  all  matters  both 
civil  and  religious  were  under  so  bad  management,  as 
to  threaten  nothing  but  entire  destruction.  The  civil 
power  was  daily  attacked  by  the  Picts  ;  and  the  Roman 
forces,  on  whom  they  depended,  were  continually  called 
away  to  observe  other  enemies  who  were  much  more 
formidable.  Pelagius  had  now  begun  to  spread  his 
pernicious  doctrine  in  several  parts  of  the  church,  and 
Great  Britain  was  not  free  from  the  infection  ;  and  being 
unprovided  with  persons  of  sufficient  learning  to  detect 
the  sophistry  of  that  subtle  heresy,  the  Gallican  bishops 
were  applied  to,  to  give  them  some  assistance.  Accord 
ingly,  Germanus,  bishop  of  Auxerre,  and  Lupus,  bishop 

1  S.  Jerome,  Epist.  17;  Palladius,  Hist.  Lausiac.  c.  118. 

2  Theocloret,  Hist.  SS.  Patrum,  c.  20. 

3  Concerning-  this  depopulation  of  Britain,  and  its  consequences,  see  Gildas, 
cap.  10,  11,  12;  Nennius,  c.  23,  28  ;  Sidonius  Apoll.  1.  1,  Epist.  7,  and  others. 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  13 

of  Troyes,  came  over,  and  having  confuted  the  Pe 
lagians  both  by  arguments  and  miracles,  returned 
back  into  their  own  country.     But,  in  a  little  while, 
Germanus  made  the  Britons  a  second  visit,  having 
for  his  companion  Severus,  bishop  of  Treves.     The 
occasion  of  this  second  visit  was,  to  clear  the  nation  from 
the   remains  of  Pelagianism,  and  restore  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  which  had  languished  for  a  long  time,  through 
the  wars  they  were  continually  engaged  in  against  the 
Picts.     Upon  this  occasion,  Germanus  placed  one  Du- 
britius,  a  learned  British  priest,  in  the  see  of  Caerleon, 
and  gave  directions  for  founding  two  monasteries,  one 
at  Hentland  on  the  river  Wye,  the  other  at  Mockross. 
By  these  regulations,  the  British  church  began  to  be 
again  in  some  repute,  and,  towards  the  latter  end  of 
this  age,  their  monasteries  and  schools  for  the  education 
of  youth  turned  out  several  eminent  men,  who  made  a 
considerable  figure,  both  by  their  learning  and  piety,  in 
the  age  ensuing.1 

I  observed  above,  that  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  (the 
inhabitants  whereof  are  by  old  historians  called  Scoti) 
had  formerly  received  some  instructions  in  the  Christian 
religion  :  but  it  was  not  till  the  fifth  century  that  it 
became  happy  by  almost  a  total  conversion,  which  was 
effected  by  the  care  of  pope  Celestine,  who  first 
sent  thither  Palladius,  a  clergyman  of  Rome,  who 
laboured  among  them  for  some  time,  and  became  their 
first  archbishop,  who  was  succeeded  by  St.  Patrick, 
a  Briton  by  birth,  and  by  whose  extraordinary  zeal  and 
primitive  behaviour,  the  work  was  completed,  and  he 
deservedly  styled  the  apostle  of  Ireland.  Some  there 
are,  who  pretend  that  Palladius  stepped  over  into  Scot- 

1  Constantius,  in  vita  S.  Germani,  1.1,  c.  19,  and  1.  2,  c.  1  ;  Prosper,  Chron. 
ad  an.  429;  Nennius,  c.  29,  et  seq. ;  Bede,  1.  1 ,  c.  17,  et  seq. ;  and  the  authori 
ties  cited  by  Collier,  i.  47,  48.  Camden,  speaking  of  the  ancient  Verulam,  thus 
refers  to  this  subject: — "  Tanta  religionis  opinio  Verolamio  accessit,  ut  hie  Sy- 
nodus,  anno  mundi  redempti  429,  haberetur,  cum  Pelagiana  haeresis,  per  Agri- 
colam,  Severiani  episcopi  filium,  in  hac  insula  repullulasset,  Britannicasque 
ecclesiasitamaculasset,  ut,  ad  veritatem  asserendam,  Germanum  Antisioderensem 
et  Lupum  Tricassinum  e  Gallia  evocarent ;  qui,  refutata  hseresi,  se  venerabiles 
Britannis  reddiderunt,  imprimis  Germanus,  qui  plurima  per  hanc  insulam 
templa  sibi  sacrata  habet." — Brit.  p.  305. 


14  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

land,  and  preached  the  gospel  to  the  northern  Picts, 
and  from  thence  they  date  the  first  conversion  of  those 
remote  people.  It  appears  further,  from  the  records  of 
those  times,  that  St.  Patrick  had  been  some  time  edu 
cated  in  France,  that  he  had  been  a  hearer  of  St.  Ger- 
manus,  and,  while  he  lived  in  Ireland,  laid  the  founda 
tion  of  several  monasteries  in  that  kingdom.2 

While  things  succeeded  thus  prosperously  in  Ireland 
and  Scotland,  in  favour  of  the  Christian  religion,  the 
Britons  were  laying  schemes,  which  ended  with  the  loss 
both  of  their  religion  and  liberty :  for,  being  deserted 
by  the  Romans,  and  under  daily  disturbances  from  their 
neighbours,  the  Picts,  they  had  made  choice  of  one 
Vortigern,  a  person  of  distinction,  and,  as  it  is  supposed, 
of  the  British  royal  blood,  to  govern  them  as  their  king ; 
who,  finding  by  experience  that  the  Britons  were  inca 
pable  of  themselves  to  withstand  their  enemies,  the 
Picts,  entered  into  the  dangerous  project  of  calling  in 
strangers  to  his  assistance :  and  accordingly  he  con 
tracted  with  the  Saxons  and  Angles,  a  warlike  people 
of  Germany,  who  easily  were  persuaded  to  accept  of 
the  proposals,  in  hopes  of  enriching  themselves  by  the 
service.  The  troops  they  sent  over  were  conducted  by 
two  generals,  brothers,  Hengist  and  Horsa,  who  landed 
in  Great  Britain  about  the  year  449.  It  was  not  long 
before  they  distinguished  themselves  by  their  valour, 
and  in  several  conflicts  brought  the  Picts  to  reason. 
Their  success  had  rendered  them  great  favourites  with 
king  Vortigern,  who,  by  way  of  recompense,  having 
cast  off  his  lawful  wife,  took  in  her  place  the  daughter 

2  See  the  Saint's  Confession,  and  other  writings,  apud  Tillemont,  to.  16, 
p.  455;  Prosper,  Chron.  ad  an.  431,  et  lib.  contra  Collatorem  ;  and  Nennius, 
c.  55,  et  seq.  Camden  thus  speaks  of  St.  Patrick's  mission  : — "  Hie,  natione 
Britannus,  et  Martino  Turonensi  affinitate  conjunctus,  Palladio  defuncto,  a 
CaBlestino  subrogatus,  tan  to  successu  christianam  religionem  per  Hiberniam 
propagavit,  ut  longe  maximam  insulae  partem  ad  Christum  converterit,  Hiber- 
norum  apostoli  nomen  meruerit,  et  ejus  discipuli  tantos  progressus  in  re  Chris 
tiana  fecerint,  ut,  subsequenti  aetate,  Scoticis  monachis  nihil  sanctius,  nihil  eru- 
ditius  fuerit,  et  in  universam  Europam  sanctissimomm  virorum  examina 
emiserint,  quibus  Fulda  Germanise,  S.  Gallus  Helvetia?,  aliaeque  urbes  et 
monasteria  originem  debent  suam."  Brit.  p.  647.  [For  an  answer  to  the  scepti 
cal  assertions  of  Dr.  Ledwich,  on  the  subject  of  St.  Patrick,  see  O'Connor 
(Prolegom.  xlix.),  and  Lingard's  History  of  England,  ii.  93,  note  122. — T."\ 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  15 

of  Hengist.  This  fact  hugely  incensed  the  generality 
of  his  British  subjects,  and  especially  the  clergy,  who 
suffered  very  much  for  remonstrating  against  his  alliance 
with  a  heathenish  nation.  But  Vortigern  was  so  far 
from  relenting,  that  he  daily  increased  his  favours  to 
the  Saxons,  putting  them  into  possession  of  several 
provinces,  and  permitting  them  to  send  over  for  fresh 
troops,  by  which  means  they  became  capable  to  dispute 
a  superiority  with  the  Britons  when  occasion  offered.1 
A  war  quickly  ensued,  which  continued  all  this  century, 
under  the  three  kings,  Vor timer,  Uther  Pendragon,  and 
Aurelius  Ambrosius,  successors  to  Vortigern,  in  one  of 
whose  reigns  a  terrible  battle  was  fought,  in  the 

40*^ 

year  493,  when  a  great  slaughter  was  made  of  the 
Saxons.  Bede  gives  an  account  of  this  engagement  in 
the  words  of  Gildas,  whom  he  copies ;  and  Gildas  tells 
us  the  battle  was  fought  at  a  place  called  Mons  Bado- 
nicus,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  present  Bannesdown, 
near  Bath,  and  that  it  was  in  the  year  above  mentioned, 
the  same  year  he  was  born.2 

The  sixth  century  proved  still  more  fatal  to  the  CENT. 
Britons,  both  as  to  civil  and  religious  affairs,  which  VI- 


1  Gildas,  c.  23.    Nennius,  c.   28.   Bede,  1.    1.  c.  15.     [The  circumstances 
detailed  by  Nennius,  in  a  subsequent  part  of  his  history  (c.  36, 44 — 47),  are  evi 
dently  fictions,  invented  to  palliate  the  defeat  and  subjugation  of  his  country 
men. — TV) 

2  Bede,  ib.  c.  16,  Gildas,  c.  26.     The  general  account  we  have  of  the  Britons 
is  this : — Their  antiquarians,  who  derive  their  descent  from  the  Trojans,  inform 
us,  that  they  had  sixty- eight  kings  before  they  were  visited  by  Julius  Caesar, 
who  attempted  to  conquer  them  about  fifty-five  years  before  the  birth  of  our 
Saviour.     They  were  then  governed  by  several  petty  kings,  though  some  were 
tributary  to  others.     They  still  had  petty  princes,  but  in  subjection  to  a  Roman 
Governor.     The  Romans  deserted  them  about  449,  when  the  Saxons  came 
amongst  them.     They  struggled  with  the  Saxons  during  the  reigns  of  twelve 
British  kings,  till  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  when  they  were  driven  into 
Wales,  where,  for  a  long  time,  they  were  still  governed  by  kings,  and  had 
almost  continual  wars  with  the  Saxons,  both  during  the  heptarchy  and  monar 
chy.     About  840  [Lloyd,  in  his  description  of  Wales,  p.  6,  says  870 ;  but  Powel, 
in  his  notes  on  Giiald.  Cambr.  p.  883,  Ed.  Camden,  proves  that  it  was  anterior 
to  the  Saxon  invasion],  Wales  was  divided  into  three  principalities,    North 
Wales,  South  Wales,  and  Powis-land.     They  continued  their  wars  with  Eng 
land,  but  commonly  were  tributary,  till  at  last  they  were  entirely  subdued  by 
King  Edward  I,  in  1282.     However,  they  remained  under  their  own  laws  and 
customs,  till  they  were  incorporated  in  1536  (Stat.  27  Hen.  VIII.  c.  26),  and 
had  the  same  privileges  and  laws  with  the  English. 


16  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

are  pathetically  described  by  Gildas,  who  was  an  eye 
witness  to  the  misfortunes  of  his  country.  What  he 
relates  is,  for  the  most  part,  in  general  terms,  but  other 
records  afford  us  more  particulars.  And,  in  the  first 
place,  as  to  civil  matters :  the  prince  that  appeared  at 
the  head  of  the  Britons,  in  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
was  Arthur,  a  young  man  of  great  hopes,  and  very  suc 
cessful  in  many  engagements  against  the  Saxons,  the 
fame  whereof  was  the  ground  of  a  great  number  of 
romantic  accounts  concerning  him,  which  are  altogether 
inconsistent  with  true  history ;  viz.,  that  he  not  only 
recovered  the  liberty  of  his  own  people,  but  also  con 
quered  Scotland,  and  all  the  British  islands,  laid  France 
waste,  and  even  put  the  whole  Roman  empire  into  fear, 
by  a  powerful  army  which  he  led  to  the  foot  of  the 
Alps.  But  notwithstanding  these  fables,  which,  I  sup 
pose,  were  taken  from  the  high  flights  of  some  British 
piece  of  poetry,  king  Arthur  was,  in  all  respects,  a 
person  who  merited  the  best  of  characters,  though  his 
end  was  unfortunate  ;  for,  being  disturbed  by  his 
nephew  Mordredus,  who  disputed  the  crown  with  him, 
this  occasioned  a  civil  war,  in  which  they  both  lost 
their  lives  ;  and  by  this  means  the  Saxons  had  an  oppor 
tunity  of  spreading  themselves,  and  getting  a  better 
establishment  in  the  island.1  After  Arthur,  about  seven 
or  eight  other  British  kings  succeeded,  whose  reigns 
were  remarkable  for  nothing  but  indolence,  immorality, 
and  tyranny ;  by  which  means  they  became  odious  to 
their  own  people,  and  a  prey  to  their  enemies :  for,  as 
Gildas  observes,  their  behaviour  was  so  provoking  to 
the  Almighty,  that  it  accelerated  the  ruin  both  of  their 
church  and  government.  The  last  prince,  indeed,  who 
appeared  as  king  among  them,  whose  name  was  Cad- 
wallader,  was  a  person  of  a  promising  disposition,  and 
took  some  pains  to  recover  his  people  both  from  vice 
and  slavery ;  but  they  became  uneasy  under  his  conduct, 

1  Nothing  can  be  better  attested  than  the  substance  of  his  story.  It  is  criti 
cising  with  a  vengeance,  to  expunge  his  name  out  of  the  records  of  true  history, 
upon  account  of  the  fables  that  have  been  invented  to  celebrate  his  memory. 
The  gospel  is  not  safe  under  such  a  liberty. 


ART.  i.]  .  BRITONS.  17 

and  he  was  obliged  to  quit  his  government.  The  con 
sequence  whereof  was  a  civil  war  among  the  nobility, 
concerning  a  new  election  ;  which  being  attended  with 
a  great  plague,,  and  upon  that  a  famine,  the  Saxons 
made  a  hand  of  these  providential  calamities,  and 
became  sole  masters.  Cadwallader  himself  retired  into 
Armorica,  or  Little  Britain,  where  he  had  some  interest, 
and  had  some  thoughts  of  raising  an  army,  to  try  once 
more  to  recover  his  right ;  but,  as  it  is  reported,  he  was 
admonished  in  a  vision  to  desist,  for  the  fate  of  his 
country  was  fixed ;  upon  which,  altering  his  resolution, 
he  travelled  to  Rome,  where  he  ended  his  days. 

In  the  meantime,  as  the  Saxons  continued  to  bring 
the  British  provinces  under  subjection,  the  old  inhabit 
ants  seemed  to  be  at  liberty  to  dispose  of  themselves  as 
they  pleased.  Some  put  on  the  yoke,  and  remained  in 
their  ancient  habitations  ;  but  the  generality,  by  degrees, 
retired  into  Wales  and  Cornwall ;  and  not  a  few  went 
over  into  Little  Britain,  a  country  of  refuge  for  the 
poor  Britons,  during  all  the  struggles  they  had  with  the 
Saxons.  Upon  this  occasion,  as  the  records  take  notice, 
St.  Malo,  a  British  bishop,  fled  over  into  Little  Britain. 
St.  Sampson,  also  a  bishop,  went  over  into  the  same 
country,  and  was  made  bishop  of  Dole.1  However,  several 
bishops  and  clergy  resided  among  the  Saxons,  till  to 
wards  the  latter  end  of  this  century ;  for  I  find  that  The- 
onus,  bishop  of  London,  and  Thadiocus,  bishop  of  York, 
with  many  of  the  inferior  clergy,  did  not  retire  into 
Wales  till  about  the  year  586,  at  which  time,  they 
carried  along  with  them  a  great  many  relics  and 
church  ornaments.  This  removal,  which  appears  to 
have  been  general,  might  very  probably  happen  on 
account  of  some  persecution ;  for  we  may  very  well 
suppose,  that,  when  the  two  nations  were  at  such  vari- 

1  [SS.  Malo  and  Sampson,  with  a  third,  St.  Magloire,  were  cousins.  Samp 
son  and  Magloire  migrated  first :  they  were  followed  by  St.  Malo,  who  had 
refused' the  episcopal  dignity  in  his  own  country,  but  was  afterwards  consecrated 
in  Britany,  and,  in  541,  became  bishop  of  Aleth,  in  that  province.  Sampson 
had  borne  the  episcopal  character  at  home.  He  was  consecrated  in  519,  by  St. 
Dubricius,  in  a  synod  at  Caerleon,  but  without  an  appointment  to  any  particular; 
see.  Butler,  July  28  and  Nov.  15.— T.~\ 

VOL.    I.  C 


18  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

ance,  the  bishops  and  clergy  could  not  be  very  easy 
under  such  circumstances.1 

The  Britons,  that  retired  into  the  western  part  of  the 
island,  called  Wales,  being  well  settled  there,  began,  as 
we  imagine,  to  reflect  upon  former  days,  and  what  it 
was  that  had  brought  those  calamities  upon  their  nation ; 
which  was  no  other  than,  as  things  are  represented  by 
Gilclas,  an  inundation  of  all  sorts  of  vices.  And,  indeed, 
they  profited  by  the  reflection ;  for,  in  a  few  years,  both 
learning  and  religious  discipline  was  carried  to  such  a 
height,  that  no  part  of  Christendom  made  a  better 
figure  than  the  British  church,  in  Wales,  and  other  ad 
jacent  places.  I  will  mention  some  instances,  as  they 
stand  recorded  both  in  ancient  and  modern  history. 
There  we  have  an  account  of  St.  David,  bishop  of 
Caerleon  upon  Usk,  who  laid  the  foundation  of  twelve 
monasteries,  among  which  one  was  that  of  Rose-valley, 
and  very  probably  that  of  Bangor,  though  some  give  it 
an  earlier  date.  About  the  year  519,  he  attended  a 
council,  held  in  opposition  to  the  Pelagian  heresy.  Here 
St.  Dubricius  resigned  the  pastoral  care  of  Caerleon, 
and  David,  who  had  previously  been  consecrated  bishop, 
was  unanimously  chosen  to  succeed  him.  Having  sat 
several  years  at  Caerleon,  he  removed  his  see  to  Me- 
nevia,  now  called  St.  David's,  about  529,  and  lived  to 
a  vast  age.2  Now  also  flourished  St.  Petrock,  who, 
educated  in  Ireland,  and  returning  afterwards  to  a 
monastery  near  the  River  Severn,  publicly  read  on  the 
heads  of  divinity,  and  had  several  persons  of  eminence 
for  his  audience.  He  afterwards  became  a  bishop, 


1  Usher,  Antiq.  Brit.  Eccl.  p.  298,  299. 

2  Anglia  Sacr.  ii.  628 — 640.     "  David  is  said  to  have  continued  upon  his  last 
see  sixty-five  years ;  and  ....  died  in  the  year  642,  being  a  hundred  and  forty- 
six  years  of  age  ....  A  great  many  extraordinary  things  are  reported  of  him, 
some  of  which  may  very  probably  be  true :  for,  in  the  infancy  of  a  church, 
miracles  are  more  necessary,  and  therefore  may  be  supposed  much  more 
frequent,  than  afterwards."     Collier,  i.  58.     [I  have  no  doubt  that  the  date 
here  assigned  for  the  death  of  St.  David  is  a  misprint  for  542,  the  year  in  which 
that  event  is  placed  by  the  author  of  the  Annales  Eccl.  Menevensis  (Ang. 
Sacr.  ii.  648).     Hence,  supposing  him  to  have  transferred  the  see  to  Menevia 
in  529,  instead  of  sixty-five,  he  can  have  sat  there  little  more  than  thirteen, 
years.— TV] 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  19 

residing  in  Cornwall,  and  gave  his  name  to  the  town 
called  Petrockstow,  now  Padstow.1  Cotemporary  with 
these  was  Oudiceus,  bishop  of  Landaff,  who  was  a 
learned  and  zealous  prelate.  He  convened  several 
councils  of  the  clergy  and  abbots  of  his  diocese ;  of 
which  Spelman  gives  an  account,  with  the  names  of  the 
abbots  that  appeared.2  About  the  year  560,  we  meet 
with  St.  Kentigern,  a  Scotchman,  bishop  of  Glasgow, 
who,  being  driven  out  of  his  own  country,  fled  into 
North  Wales,  where  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  monas 
tery  between  the  rivers  Clwyd  and  Elwy.  He  was  a 
man  of  learning,  and  had  600  monks  under  his  inspec 
tion.  He  ordered  them  into  three  stations  ;  some  ma 
naged  the  husbandry  part  abroad ;  others  were  employed 
in  domestic  affairs  within  doors  ;  a  third  attended  only 
to  studies  and  divine  service.  In  some  time,  this  monas 
tery  was  made  an  episcopal  see,  and  St.  Keritigern 
became  the  first  bishop.  The  bishop,  in  old  records,  is 
styled  Elywensis,  Elvensis,  and  Lanelwensis.  After 
some  years,  St.  Kentigern,  being  recalled  into  his  own 
country,  appointed  St.  Asaph  to  be  his  successor,  who 
was  born  in  North  Wales,  and  educated  in  the  monas 
tery  of  Elywin,  or  Lanelwy,  under  St.  Kentigern.3  I 
must  not  pass  over  in  silence  here  the  famous  Irish 
abbot,  Columba,  who,  leaving  his  country  about  565, 
came  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  northern  Picts.  His 
mission  was  attended  with  success.  The  people  were 
speedily  converted  to  Christianity;  and  Bridius,  their 
king,  "  gave  him  the  island  of  lona,  or  Icolumkill,  for  a 
monastery,  where  he  was  buried,  at  seventy -seven  years 
of  age,  and  about  thirty-two  after  his  coming  into  Bri 
tain.  Before  he  left  Ireland,  he  founded  a  considerable 
monastery  there,  called  Dearmach  in  the  Scottish  lan 
guage,  i.  e.  a  field  of  oaks.  These  two  monasteries  of 
lona  and  Dearmach  multiplied  into  a  great  many  reli- 

1  Leland,  Itiner.  viii.  52;  Collier,  i.  59.      [There  is  no  authority  for  the 
assertion  that  St.  Petrock  was  a  bishop.—  TV] 

2  Collier,  i.  60. 

3  Camd.  Brit.  p.  523.  Ed.  1594.     Godwin,  de  Praesul.  631,  632.     [He  was 
in  Wales  from  543  to  560,  and  died  in  601.     Wharton  de   Episc.  Asaph. 
300,  302.— r.] 

C  2 


20  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

gious  houses  in  Britain  and  Ireland  ;  of  all  which; 
the  monastery  of  lona,  where  Columba  lies  buried,  is 
reckoned  the  principal.  This  little  island  was  always 
governed  by  an  abbot  in  priest's  orders,  who  had 
not  only  a  jurisdiction  over  the  laity,  but,  by  a 
strange  unprecedented  singularity,  ordine  inusitato,  as 
Bede  speaks,  was  likewise  superior  to  the  bishops  of 
the  place ;  because  St.  Columba,  the  first  missionary 

and  abbot,  was  no  more  than  a  priest Adamnanus, 

the  successor  of  St.  Columba,  wrote  his  life,  and  was 
abbot  of  Hy,  or  lona,  when  Bede  was  a  child."1 

The  account  of  this  century  brings  us  to  the  time  of 
the  Saxons'  conversion,  which  happened  in  the  close  of 
it ;  which  matter  shall  be  referred  to  the  next,  or  seventh 
century.  In  the  meantime,  I  desire  the  reader  to  cast 
his  eye  back  upon  the  outward  economy  of  the  British 
church,  as  it  is  described  from  the  best  and  only  records 
we  can  meet  with.  Doubtless,  it  will  surprise  and 
puzzle  some  sort  of  readers,  when  they  find  themselves 
entertained  with  nothing  but  abbots,  monks,  and  mo 
nastic  foundations ;  and,  by  viewing  things  in  that 
glass,  observe  so  little  of  resemblance  with  the  present 
times  in  which  they  live  ;  when  monks  are  represented 

1  Collier,  i.  60.  The  passage  is  translated  from  Bede  1.  3,  c.  4.  [To  the 
names  mentioned  in  the  text,  as  the  ornaments  of  the  British  church,  during 
the  present  age,  I  may  add  that  of  St.  Dubricius,  first,  bishop  of  Landaff, 
and  afterwards  translated  to  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Caerleon;  of  St.  Thelian, 
the  disciple  of  Dubricius,  the  friend  of  St.  David,  and  ultimately  the  successor 
of  his  former  master  in  the  see  of  Landaff ;  of  St.  Iltut,  the  instructor  of  the 
saints  David,  Magloire,  Sampson,  and  others;  together  with  those  of  Pattern, 
Winwaloe,  Paul  of  Leon,  Guadwall,  Daniel,  and  the  two  Gildases,  whose 
virtues  have  secured  for  them  a  place  in  the  calendar  of  the  British  church 
(see  Ang.  Sac.  ii.  (554—667,  and  Butler,  in  Vit.)  Of  all  these,  St.  Gildas,  the 
historian,  sometimes  called  "  the  Wise,"  and  sometimes  "  Badonicus,"  to  dis 
tinguish  him  from  his  namesake,  the  Albanian,  is,  perhaps,  the  most  generally 
•known.  He  was  born,  as  the  reader  will  recollect,  in  493,  the  year  in  which  the 
battle  of  Badonsdown,  or  Bannesdown,  was  fought ;  and,  from  this  circum 
stance,  obtained  his  second  distinctive  appellation.  Like  St.  David  and  his 
companions,  he  was  educated  under  the  care  of  St.  Iltut.  In  527,  he  passed 
into  Britany,  became  the  founder  of  the  abbey,  which  still  bears  his  name,  in 
the  Peninsula  of  Rhuis,  near  Vannes,  and  died  in  a  hermitage,  in  that  neigh 
bourhood,  about  the  year  580.  Of  his  writings,  his  work  De  Excidio  Bri 
tannia,  and  an  Epistle,  condemnatory  of  the  royal  and  clerical  vices  of  his 
country,  are  all  that  remain.  The  latter  was  written  in  537 ;  the  former, 
according  to  Usher '(Antiq.  278),  in  564.  See  Mabillon,  Act.  SS.  Ord.  Bened. 
).  138,  and  Leland,  de  Script.  Brit.  51—  58.— TV) 


ART.  i.]  BRITONS.  21 

as  idle  drones ;  monasteries,  schools  for  ignorance  and 
superstition  ;  and  the  dissolution  of  such  pious  establish 
ments,  a  glorious  undertaking,  becoming  the  zeal  of  an 
apostle,  and  the  title  of  a  reformer !     When  it  is  con 
sidered  that  this  method  of  life  was  embraced  by  their 
British  ancestors,  who  are  supposed  to  have  followed 
the  gospel  in  the  greatest  purity,  and  not  to  have  been 
drawn  into  such  practices  by  any  foreign  influence  or 
jurisdiction,  it  will  be  a  hard  matter  to  find  out  those 
Christians,  from  whom  they  drew  the  plan  of  the  present 
economy  that  is  established  among  them.    Some  writers, 
indeed,  I  have  met  with,  who  pretend  to  reconcile  the 
British  discipline  to  the  present  posture  of  their  affairs  ; 
but  their  arguments  are  of  so  fine  a  thread,  that  they 
are  blown  away  with  a  blast.     They  allege,  that  the 
word  monk  had  a  quite  different  signification  from  what 
it  afterwards  obtained  in  superstitious  ages ;  that  any 
one  was  called  a  monk,  who  lived  a  quiet,  sequestered, 
and  studious  life  ;  that,  if  they  lived  in  one  community, 
it  was  done  without  any  ties,  or  the  vows  of  poverty, 
chastity,  or  obedience,  which  were  additions  of  later 
ages,  and  no  part  of  ancient  monastic  discipline.     This, 
indeed,  is  a  very  learned  and  ingenious  comment  upon 
the  ancient  records  of  the  church,  and  a  pretty  repre 
sentation  of  a  monastic  life ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  as  void 
of  truth,  as  it  is  full  of  unparalleled  assurance.     What 
will  not  prejudice  undertake,  which  dares  venture  to 
make  an  attempt  so  directly  contrary  to  plain  matter  of 
fact  ?     I  own,  the  business  of  a  monk  is  a  retired  life, 
jointly  with  study  and  prayer.     I  am  not  ignorant  that,, 
now  and  then,  some  have  had  the  appellation  of  monks 
given  them  by  historians,  purely  on  account  of  their 
retired  way  of  living :  but  to  allege  this  as  a  specimen 
of  the  monastic  life  in  general,  and  apply  it  to  all  those 
monasteries,  which  were  erected  all  over  the  church,  in 
the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  ages  (as  soon  as  the  state  of 
Christian  religion  would  admit  of  such  a  discipline),  is  a 
plain  insult  upon  common  understanding.     Look  into 
the  ancient  historians,  that  relate  what  happened  in  the 
primitive  ages,  viz.  Epiphanius,  Eusebius,  Jerome,  Theo- 


22  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

doretus,  Socrates,  Sozomenus,  Ruffin,  and  others,  who 
have  given  us  the  lives  of  the  monks  that  lived  in  the 
east,  in  Palestine,  and  Egypt.  Tarn  over  the  works 
of  those  fathers  who  have  published  their  rules  and  con 
stitutions,  viz.  St.  Basil,  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  St.  Au- 
gustin,  Cassianus,  St.  Benedict,  &c.  And  for  greater 
satisfaction  upon  this  point,  take  a  view  of  the  canons 
of  the  councils,  general,  national,  and  provincial,  and 
form  your  judgment  according  to  what  you  find 
there,  concerning  the  obligations  and  discipline  of  a 
monastic  life.  That  they  commonly  lived  under  one 
roof;  were  subject  to  one  superior;  were  not  masters 
of  property,  but  possessed  their  goods  in  common  ;  were 
treated  as  vow-breakers  and  vagabonds,  if  they  pre 
sumed  to  marry,  or  quit  their  monasteries ;  and  were 
punishable  by  the  ancient  laws,  both  civil  and  eccle 
siastical,  if  they  happened  to  be  guilty  of  those  crimes, 
is  a  truth  so  plainly  delivered  in  all  the  records  of  anti 
quity,  that  it  is  an  ocular  conviction  to  any  one  that 
will  but  give  himself  the  trouble  to  peruse  them.  So 
that,  unless  we  look  upon  the  British  monks  to  have 
been  the  mere  apes  or  mimics  of  all  others  that  made 
profession  of  a  monastic  life,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  own, 
that  their  discipline  was  the  same,  as  well  in  substance, 
as  in  outward  appearance.1 

1  Among  other  things  objected  by  the  Donatists  against  the  Catholic  church, 
one  of  their  topics  was  a  monastic  life.  St.  Augustin  (1.  3,  cont.  Liter.  Petiliani) 
says,  Deinceps  perrexit  ore  maledico  in  vituperationem  monasteriorum  et  mo- 
nachorum,  arguens  etiam  me,  quod  hoc  genus  vitae  a  me  fuerit  institutum. 
Again  (in  Ps.  132)  he  gives  a  general  idea  of  a  monastic  life.  Where  the 
Donatist  attacks  him,  saying,  Quid  sibi  vult  nomen  monachorum  ?  ostendite 
ubi  scriptum  sit  nomen  monachorum.  Quare  ergo  non  appellemus  monachos, 
cum  dicat  Psalmus,  Ecce  quam  bonum,  et  quam  jucundum  habitare  fratres  in 
unum  ?  he  replies,  Merito  insultant  nomini  unitatis,  qui  se  ab  unitate  proeci- 
derunt.  Merito  illis  displicet  nomen  monachorum,  qui  nolunt  habitare  in 
unum  cum  fratribus:  sed  sequentes  Donatum,  Christum  dimiserunt. 

Monasteries  were  established  all  over  the  church,  in  the  fourth  age.  Ruffinus 
(1.2.  de  Vit.  Patrum)  says,  Serapion  had  10,000  monks  under  his  care.  Sozo- 
men  (1.  3,  c.  14),  who  gives  the  rules  established  by  St.  Pachomius,  tells  us  that, 
in  the  single  monastery  in  which  that  saint  resided,  there  were  1300  brethren, 
and  that  the  whole  number  of  monks  under  his  direction  amounted  to  7000. 
Finally,  St.  Jerome  (in  Epitaph.  Marcellae)  adds  his  testimony  to  the  same  fact, — 
crebra  virginum  monasteria,  monachorum  innumerabilis  multitudo. 

Now,  as  to  the  obligations  of  the  monks  :  1st.  They  lived  in  community  : — 
Divisi  sunt  per  decurias  atque  centurias,  ita  ut  novem  hoininibus  prsesit 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  23 

Having  brought  my  account  down  to  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century,  I  will  take  my  leave  of  the  Britons,  and 
pursue  my  design  under  the  Saxon  Heptarchy,  or  seven 
principalities,  for  such  was  the  economy  of  our  ances 
tors,  after  they  had  expelled  the  ancient  inhabitants. 
The  names  whereby  these  petty  kingdoms  were  distin 
guished  were,  Kent  ;T  South-Saxe,  now  Sussex ;  East 
Anglia,  comprising  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Cambridge,  and 
the  isle  of  Ely ;  East-Saxe,  which  extended  over  Essex, 
Middlesex,  and  the  south  of  Hertfordshire ;  Northumbria, 
comprehending  the  two  independent  kingdoms  of  Deira 
and  Bernicia,  and  stretching  from  the  Forth  to  the 
Humber,  and  from  the  eastern  to  the  wrestern  shores  of 
the  island ;  West-Saxe^r  Wessex,  containing  the  south 
western  counties,  from  Sussex  on  the  east,  and  from  the 
Thames  and  the  Severn  on  the  north ;  and  Mercia, 
which  occupied  all  the  interior  of  the  island.  I  will 
only  touch  upon  their  conversion,  with  some  few  parti 
culars  of  the  progress  the  gospel  made  among  them, 
which  had  obtained  a  perfect  establishment,  under  arch 
bishops,  bishops,  and  monastic  discipline,  before  the 
close  of  the  seventh  century.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  to 
be  remembered,  that  little  or  nothing  had  been  done, 
in  order  to  bring  this  Pagan  people  over  to  the  faith, 
though  they  had  now  made  their  abode  here  near  1 50 
years ;  and  that  their  neighbours,  the  Britons,  the 
French,  the  Irish,  and  the  Picts,  who  were  all  Christians, 
wanted  zeal  to  employ  their  talents  that  way,  as  Gildas, 
Bede,  and  other  historians,  make  grievous  complaint. 
But,  at  length,  Providence  came  in  to  their  assistance, 
when  the  Divine  goodness  excited  Pope  Gregory  the 


decimus,  et  rursum  decem  praepositos  sub  se  centesimus  habeat  (S.  Jerom.  de 
Regul.  Monach.)  2nd.  They  promised  obedience  : — Confecleratio  est  obedire 
majoribus,  et  quidquid  jusserint  facere  (Idem).  3rd.  They  made  vows  of 
virginity  : — Admittenda  est  virginitatis  professio  (St.  Basil,  in  Reg.  Monast. 
interrog.  9).  4th.  They  renounced  property : — Nemo  quidquam  possidet  pro- 
prium  (S.  Aug.  de  moribus  Ecc.  c.  31) ;  Facultatibus  suis  abstinent,  et  ad  se 
pertinentibus  renunciant.  Sozom.  1.  1,  c.  12. 

1  The  kingdom  of  Kent  contained  Kent  only,  though  the  three  kingdoms  of 
the  East  Saxons,  the  East  Angles,  and  the  South  Saxons,  were  tributary  to  it. 


24  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

Great  to  undertake  the  work,  at  that  juncture  when 
Ethelbert  was   king  of  Kent ;  a  prince  of  excellent 
qualifications  for  government,  and  of  good  dispositions 
for  receiving  instruction.     He  had  married  Bertha,  a 
princess  of  France,  who,  by  articles,  was  allowed  to 
have  a  private  chapel,  with  a  bishop,  called  Luidhard, 
for  her  chaplain  and  confessor.     The  missioners  sent  by 
St.  Gregory  were,  Augustin,  Mellitus,  and  others,  who, 
by  some,  are  reported  to  have  been  Benedictine  monks  ; 
but  that  they  were  either  secular  clergy,  or  of  a  certain 
order  called  Equitians,  is  contended  for  by  some,  who 
are  generally   esteemed  as   good  judges   in  such  sort 
of  matters.     They  arrived  in  the  isle  of  Thanet  in 
the  year  597  ;   and  it  was  not  long  before  they 
became  happy,  by  beholding  the  fruits  of  their  labour. 
Not  only  king  Ethelbert,  but   10,000  of  his  subjects 
were   baptized ;    and    many  miracles  were    wrought, 
both  as  an  inducement  and  a  confirmation  of  the  doc 
trine  that  was  planted  among  them.     Saint  Augustin 
was  as  yet  but  in  priest's  orders  ;  wherefore,  ak  soon  as 
he  had  leisure,  he  took  a  journey  to  Aries,  (of  which 
city  Etherius  was  archbishop,  as  also  the  pope's  legate, 
and  primate  of  France),  where   he  was  consecrated 
bishop,  and  immediately  after  returned  to  his  flock.    In 
the  next  place,  St.  Gregory  thought  it  was  proper  to 
invest  him  with  a  very  extensive  jurisdiction  ;  which, 
all   circumstances    considered,    was    richly    his    due. 
6oi  Besides,  therefore,  the  dignity  of  an  archi-episcopal 
see,  he  was  declared  primate  both  over  the  British 
and  Saxon  churches ;  whereas  the  Britons,  before  this 
regulation,  were  subject  to  a  primate  of  their  own.1 
Afterwards,  he  judged  it  highly  requisite  to  come  to  a 
good  understanding  with  the  British  bishops  and  reli 
gious,  and  to  put  them  in  a  better  way,  than  hitherto 
they  had  been  in,  through  the  iniquity  of  the  times,  and 

1  Omnes  Britanniae  Sacerdotes  habeat  (tua  fraternitas)  subjectos  (Greg. 
Epist.  apucl  Bede,  1.  1,  c.  29).  In  Galliarum  episcopos  nullam  tibi  authoritatem 
tribuimus Britannorum  vero  omnes  episcopos  tua?  fraternitati  corn- 
mittimus.  Ib.  c.  27. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  25 

the  little  communication  they  had  with  the  rest 
of  the  church.  Accordingly,  a  meeting  was  ap-  6o°r3 
pointed,  but  very  few  of  the  British  church  604 
appeared.1  But  upon  a  second  meeting,  there 
came  seven  bishops,  and  several  abbots.  At  this  second 
meeting,  the  Britons  took  a  distaste  to  St.  Augustin's 
person,  upon  the  whimsical  pretence,  that  he  wanted 
humility,  because  he  happened  not  to  rise  from  his  seat, 
and  salute  them  at  their  appearing.  What  the  subject 
of  this  conference  was,  is  not  recorded  as  to  particulars  ; 
but  we  may  imagine,  there  was  no  debate  between  them 
upon  any  thing  that  was  material,  upon  account  that 
the  following  condescensions  were  the  only  things  St. 
Augustin  expected  from  them  :  First,  to  conform  them 
selves  to  the  rest  of  the  church,  as  to  the  time  of 
celebrating  Easter.  Secondly,  to  reform  certain  abuses 
that  were  crept  in  among  them,  in  the  ceremonies  of 
baptism.  Thirdly,  that  they  would  mitigate  the  animo 
sities  they  bore  against  the  Saxons,  at  least  so  far  as  to 
concur  with  him  in  endeavouring  their  conversion.2 
I  don't  find  that  St.  Augustin  had  any  dispute  with  them 
concerning  doctrinal  points,  or  that  he  mentioned 
his  metropolitic  jurisdiction  over  them  (which  it  is  to 
be  thought  they  took  for  granted,  by  their  answering 
his  summons),  which  was  a  circumstance  Bede  would 
not  have  omitted.  Indeed,  this  historian  relates,  that 
the  Britons  went  away  unsatisfied,  and  muttered  some 
thing  against  St.  Augustin's  person,  as  if  they  were 
apprehensive  of  his  lordly  behaviour.  I  know  Spelman 
has  of  late  produced  an  old  scrap  of  a  writing,  which 


1  Bede,  giving  an  account  of  this  first  meeting,  says  that  St.  Austin  restored 
sight  to  a  blind  man ;  on  which  the  Britons  owned  "  Veram  esse  viam  justitiae, 
quam  praedicaret  Augustinus :    sed  se  non  posse,  absque  suorum  consensu, 
priscis  abdicare  moribus." — 1.  2,  c.  2. 

2  Dicebat  autem  eis  Augustinus,  quod  in  multis  quidem  nostrae  consuetudini, 
imo  universalis  ecclesise,  contraria  geritis ;  et  tamen,  si  in  tribus  his  mihi  ob- 
temperare  vultis,  ut  pascha  suO(  tempore  celebretis,  ut  ministerium  baptizandi, 
quo  Deo  renascimur,  juxta  morem  sanctae  Romanae  et  apostolicae  ecclesiae  com- 
pleatis,  ut  genti  Anglorum  una  nobiscum  praedicetis  verbum  Domini,  caetera 
qua)  agitis,  quamvis  moribus  nostris  contraria,  aequanimiter  cuncta  tolerabimus. 
At  illi  nihil  horum  se  facturos,  neque  ilium  pro  archiepiscopo  habituros  esse 
respondebant. — Bede,  ib. 


26  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

imports,  that  the  Britons,,  upon  this  occasion,  positively 
refused  to  acknowledge  the  bishop  of  Rome's  su 
periority  over  them  ;  but  it  is  stigmatized  with  plain 
marks  of  forgery,1  and  is  altogether  inconsistent  with 
the  story  of  those  times,  which  informs  us,  that  there 
was  a  continual  correspondence  between  the  British 
Christians  and  the  Saxons  ;  that  they  applied  them 
selves  to  the  see  of  Canterbury  for  orders  ;  that  both 
the  British,  Irish,  and  Picts  clergy,  joined  with  the 
Saxon  missioners  in  propagating  the  Gospel ;  and  that 
henceforward  there  was  never  any  contest  among  them, 
only  about  the  celebrating  of  Easter ;  which  point  also 
was  determined,  not  many  years  after,  at  least  by  the 
major  part  of  the  British  Christians.  But,  in  case  the 
Britons  in  Wales  had  appeared  unwilling  to  admit  of  a 
new  metropolitan,  it  only  shows  that  they  were  not 
pleased  to  part  with  their  ancient  privileges  ;  or  had 
they  actually  refused  to  submit  to  the  see  of  Rome,  it 
was  only  an  instance  of  their  schismatical  disposition, 
and  that  they  went  against  the  custom  of  all  other 
Christians  at  that  time.2 

1  This  instrument,  Avhich  is  printed  both  by  Spelman  and  Wilkins,  professes 
to  be  the  answer,  returned  by  the  Abbot  of  Bangor,  to   Austin's  supposed 
demand  of  submission  from  the  British  prelates.     The  MS.  seen  by  Spelman, 
was  a  copy,  without  name  or  date;  and  is  said  (Cone.  i.  108,  109)  to  have 
belonged  to  a  Welsh  gentleman,  named  Mosten.    In  opposition  to  its  authority, 
it  has  been  remarked,  1st,  that  it  makes  Caerleon  the  metropolitan  see,  whereas 
that  bishopric  had  been  transferred  to  St.  David's,  almost  a  century  before ;  and 
2nd,  that  its  language  is  modern  Welsh,  and  exhibits  many  other  internal  evi 
dences  of  forgery. 

2  [There  are  some  circumstances  in  the  narrative  of  Bede,  which  to  me 
appear  decisive  of  the  question  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  on  this  sub 
ject.     The  latter,  arguing  from  the  rejection  of  Austin  by  the  British  prelates, 
and  forgetting  or  concealing  the  fact,  that,  to  resist  the  papal  ordinances,  in 
matters  of  local  discipline,  is  by  no  means  to  deny  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman 
see,  have  hurried  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  ancient  British  church  refused  to 
recognize  the  authority  claimed  by  the  chief  pastor.     Now,  that  Austin  himself 
must  have  acknowledged  the  jurisdiction  of  the  pontiff  is  beyond  controversy  : 
that  he  must  have  been  ready  to  assert  it,  as  an  essential  term  of  communion, 
is  as  certain,  as  that  his  own  commission  actually  depended  on  it  for  its  validity. 
What  then  are  the  facts  ?     The  meeting,  at  which  the  pretended  declaration  is 
supposed  to  have  been  made,  is  preceded  by  another,  wherein  all  the  matters  in 
dispute  have  been  fully  and  anxiously  discussed.     Austin,  therefore,  comes 
prepared  to  the  assembly.     He  knows  the  points  of  difference  between  himself 
and  the  natives :  he  even  tells  them  that  their  practice  is,  in  many  instances, 
opposed  to  the  custom  (consuetudini),  not  only  of  Rome,  but  also  of  the  universal 
church ;  but  he  assures  them,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  is  willing  to  sink  every 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  27 

Soon  after  king  Ethelbert' s  conversion,  by  the  advice 
of  St.  Augustin,  he  employed  his  time  and  treasure  in 
building  churches,  and  laying  other  pious  foundations. 
Near  the  royal  city  of  Canterbury  was  erected  a  church 
in  honour  of  St.  Peter  and  Paul,  to  which,  soon  after, 
was  joined  a  monastery,  of  which  one  Peter  became  the 
first  abbot.  Another  church  was  built  upon  the  ruins 
of  an  old  chapel,  formerly  made  use  of  by  the  British 
Christians,  which  by  degrees  was  made  the  cathedral, 
and  at  present  is  called  Christ-Church.  Soon  after, 
was  laid  the  foundation  of  St.  Paul's  church,  in  London, 
then  the  capital  of  the  neighbouring  and  dependant 
kingdom  of  the  East  Saxons.  St.  Andrew's,  at  Roches 
ter,  rose  about  the  same  time,  and  Justus,  one  of 
Austin's  companions,  became  its  first  bishop.  These, 
and  several  other  pious  works  were  carried  on  by 
Ethelbert  and  St.  Augustin.  St.  Augustin  died  in 
the  year  604,  king  Ethelbert  not  till  the  year  616.  6 
Some  of  our  historians  (but  upon  what  motive  I  leave 
the  reader  to  guess)  are  pleased  to  imagine,  that  St. 
Augustin  was  so  highly  provoked  at  the  behaviour  of 
the  British  Christians,  when  they  met  in  conference, 
that  he  vowed  revenge,  and  that  he  afterwards  excited 
one  of  the  Pagan  Saxon  princes  to  make  war  with 
them ;  and  it  was  in  this  war  that  the  monks  of  Bangor 
were  slaughtered.  But  this  malicious  insinuation  is 
confuted  by  writers  of  the  same  party,  who  make  it 
appear,  that  St.  Augustin  had  been  dead  several  years 

minor  consideration,  and  demand  their  submission  only  in  matters  that  are 
essential.  Let  them  yield  to  him,  then,  in  these.  Let  them  follow  the  orthodox 
computation  of  Easter,  let  them  adopt  the  order  of  the  Roman  ritual  in  the 
administration  of  baptism,  and,  having1  thus  manifested  their  attachment  to 
Catholic  unity,  let  them  join  with  him  in  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Saxons, 
and  he  will  leave  them  at  full  liberty  to  retain  their  other  customs,  and  enjoy 
whatever  other  immunities  they  may  claim.  It  is  evident,  from  the  whole  tenor 
of  these  proceedings,  that  neither  the  supremacy  of  the  pontiff,  nor  any  other 
article  of  Catholic  doctrine,  could  have  been  disputed.  It  was  a  question,  not 
of  faith,  but  of  practice;  not  of  dogmas,  but  of  "  ancient  customs:"  and  if  the 
objections  to  the  new  metropolitan  were  not  personal,  which  may  reasonably  be 
doubted,  they  must  have  originated  solely  in  an  unwillingness,  on  the  part  of 
the  Britons,  to  admit  an  external  interference  in  the  local  discipline  of  their 
church.— r. 


28  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

before  that  slaughter  of  the  monks,  which  they  confirm 
from  the  express  words  of  Bede.1  Indeed,  St.  Augustin 
had  foretold,  that  the  British  Christians  would  be 
punished  from  Heaven  for  their  stubbornness  and  want 
of  charity  :  but  this  seems  to  be  a  proof  of  his  holiness 
and  prophetic  spirit,  not  an  argument  of  cruelty  or 
revenge.2 

King  Ethelbert  left  the  crown  to  his  son  Eadbald, 
3  who  being  very  young,  and  entirely  given  up  to 
his  pleasures,  a  great  check  was  given  to  the  progress 
of  the  gospel ;  in  so  much  that  he  relapsed,  and  drew 
after  him  many  of  his  subjects.  Mellitus  and  Justus,  the 
bishops  of  London  and  Rochester,  fled  into  France,  and 
St.  Laurence/  who  was  St.  Augustin's  successor,  had 

1  Ipso  Augustino  jam  multo  ante  tempore  ad  cailestia  regna  sublato.     Bede, 
1.  2,  c.  2.     [The  authenticity  of  this  passage  has  been  denied  by  Godwin  (De 
Prasul.    Introd.  c.  4),    Parker  (Antiq.  Brit.  p.  48),  and  a  writer  cited  by 
Spelman  (Concil.  i.  110),  and  asserted  by  Alford  (Annal.  ii.  194 — 197),  Cressy 
(Ch.  Hist.  321),  and  Lingard  (Antiq.  Ang.  Sax.  Ch.  49,  50,  note).     As  regards 
the  charge  against  Austin,  however,  the  question  is  of  trifling  importance. 
Wharton  (Ang.  Sac.  i.  91)  has  proved  beyond  dispute  that  the  saint  died  in 
604  ;  and  the  earliest  date,  that  assigned  by  the  Saxon  Annals,  for  the  massacre 
which  he  is  accused  of  having  procured,  is  607.     I  ought  to  add,  that  Collier 
has  had  the  honesty  to  vindicate  him  from  this  unfounded  calumny.     Hist, 
i.  77,  78.— TV] 

2  Quod  ita  per  omnia,  ut  praedixerat,  divino  agente  judicio,  patratum  est. 
Bede,  ib. 

3  Laurentius  patria  Romanus,  vir  et  pius  et  doctus  (Godwin  de  Presul. 
in  vit.  p.  38).     "  It  is  a  common  opinion"  (says  Mr.  Collier,  in  his  Dictionary) 
"  among  the  monks,  that  all  the  archbishops  of  Canterbury,  from  Augustin  to 
Stigand,  were  religious.     But  this  is  a  mistake ;  for  Lawrence,  to  mention  no 
other,  was  certainly  no  monk,  but  a  secular  priest,  as  appears  from  the  plain 
testimony  of  Bede."     Besides  what  Mr.  Collier  observes  concerning  Laurence, 
we  may  take  notice  of  another    common    opinion,  viz.  that  St.   Augustin, 
Laurence,  &c.  were  monks  of  the  order  of  St.  Bennet;  which  some  of  the  best 
historians  will  not  agree  to.     I  will  only  mention  that  Mr.  Tanner,  in  the 
preface  to  his  "  Notitia  Monastica,"  is  pleased  to  express  an  opinion,  that 
the  Benedictine  rule  was  scarce  heard  of  in   England,  till   some  hundred 
of  years   after.     Then    he  brings  several    proofs   of  this    opinion,   namely 
that  Bede,  who  gives  an  account  of  the  monastic  state  till  731,  says  not  a 
word  of  St.  Bennet,  or  his  rule ;  that  when  the  monks'  rules  were  reformed 
by  the  synod  at  Cloveshoe,  anno  747,  under  archbishop  Cuthbert,  there  was  no 
mention  of  St.  Bennet ;  that  when  the  Danes  had  destroyed  most  of  the  Saxon 
monasteries,  they  were  restored,  and  filled  with  Benedictine  monks,  called  from 
abroad,  which  did  not  happen  till  king  Edgar  and  St.  Dunstan's  days ;  that  all 
the  records,  mentioning  the  Benedictine  monks  during  the  Saxon  heptarchy, 
mistake  the  appellation,  and  are  far  from  being  exact  in  their  account. 

[Elsewhere,  Dodd  refers  also  to  Baronius,  Nat.  Alexander,  Smith,  Broughton, 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  29 

some  thoughts  of  following  them,  but  was  sharply  re 
prehended  by  St.  Peter  in  a  vision  ;  the  manner  whereof 
being  related  by  Laurence  to  the  king,  and  the  truth  of 
it  above  questioning,  Eadbald  became  a  new  man,  and 
restored  Christianity  where  it  had  lost  ground  by  his 
behaviour.  Mellitus  and  Justus  were  recalled.  Mellitus, 
however,  found  opposition  in  being  replaced  in  London, 
so  he  lay  by,  and  was  successor  to  St.  Laurence  in  the 
see  of  Canterbury,  where  he  died,  in  624.  Justus  was 
also  removed  to  Canterbury,  after  the  decease  of 
Mellitus  ;  and  to  supply  the  vacancy  thus  created,  per 
mission  was  obtained  from  pope  Boniface  V,  to  con 
secrate  new  bishops,  and  a  person  named  Romanus  be 
came  the  successor  of  Justus  in  the  see  of  Rochester.1 

Ercombert,  grandson  to  king  Ethelbert,  entirely 
rooted  out  the  heathenish  worship.  He  was  a  very 
religious  prince,  and,  among  other  good  sanctions, 
enforced  the  custom  of  fasting  in  Lent,  by  the  civil  law  ; 
looking  upon  himself,  and  all  other  kings,  to  be  chiefly 
designed  for  such  purposes.  He  had  a  daughter  called 
Ercongotha,  who  had  made  religious  vows  in  France,  in 
the  monastery  of  St.  Fara,  now  called  Faremoutier, 
where  her  memory  is  still  recorded.  After  the  death  of 
king  Ercombert,  his  queen  Sexburga  retired  into  a 
monastery,  which  is  supposed  to  have  stood  in  the  isle 
of  Ely,  and  where  her  sister,  Etheldreda,  was  abbess ; 
upon  whose  decease,  Sexburga  succeeded  her  in  the 
government  of  the  monastery,  having  with  her  a  daughter 
whose  name  was  Ermenilda.  In  the  meantime,  died 
Justus,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  consecrated 
Paulinus  archbishop  of  York,  one  of  St.  Augustin's  com 
panions.  Justus  was  succeeded  by  Honorius,  who,  as 
John  Stow  relates,  divided  his  district  into  parishes. 

Willis,  Battley,  Henschenius,  and  Papebroclie,  as  writers,  "who  either  ex 
pressly  affirm,  or  are  inclined  to  believe,  that  St.  Austin  and  his  associate  mis- 
sioners  were  not  Benedictine  monks. "  (Apology  for  the  Church  Hist.  p.  74). 
To  these  he  might  have  added  Thomassin  (De  vet.  et  nov.  Discip.  1.  3.  c.  24), 
Basnage  (Anna!  an.  581),  and  Gibbon  (iv.  457).  See  Lingard,  Ang.  Sax.  Ch. 
p.  104.— IT.] 

1  Bede,  1.  2,  c.  3—8. 


30  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

The  next  that  filled  the  see  of  Canterbury  was 
*  Deusdedit,  otherwise  called  Theodotus.  During 
his  time,  Ercombert  died.  He  was  succeeded  in  the 
kingdom  by  his  son  Egbert,  who  had  a  niece  named 
Eormemburga,  otherwise  Domneva,  who  was  married 
to  Mearwald,  king  of  Mercia.  Her  uncle  having 
given  her  leave  to  build  a  church  in  the  isle  of  Thanet, 
in  honour  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  she  joined  a 
monastery  to  it,  where  she  placed  her  daughter,  Mildreda, 
abbess  over  seventy  religious  women,  the  archbishop 
performing  the  ceremony  of  her  consecration.  Deusdedit 
died  in  664,  and  in  668  was  succeeded  by  Theodoras,1 
sent  from  Rome  by  pope  Yitalianus.  There  came  along 
with  him  the  famous  and  learned  abbot,  Adrian,  who 
set  up  a  school,  or  seminary,  chiefly  for  the  education 
of  ecclesiastics.  Bede,  John  of  Beverly,  Alcuin,  and 
Tobias,  the  learned  bishop  of  Rochester,  with  many 
other  eminent  men,  were  some  time  his  hearers.  In 
the  year  673,  Theodoras  called  a  council,  which  as 
sembled  at  Herudford,  in  the  kingdom  of  the  East- 
Angles,  where  several  regulations  were  made  relating  to 
discipline  ;  and,  in  680,  he  summoned  a  second,  which 
publicly  approved  of  the  five  general  councils,  and  of  a 
synod  lately  held  at  Rome,  under  pope  Martin,  against 
the  Monothelites.  Among  others,  that  appeared  in  the 
latter,  there  was  one  John,  abbot  of  St.  Martin's  in 
Rome,  called  the  Chanter.  He  wfas  brought  over  by 
Coelfrid,  abbot  of  St.  Peter's  monastery  at  Wyremouth, 
and  was  the  first  that  set  up  church-music  in  the  English 

6g2  church.     Theodoras  was  succeeded  in  the  see  of 

Canterbury   by  Brithwald,   and   after  him   came 

Tatwyn,  all  three  men  of  remarkable  parts  and  learning.2 

The  East-Saxons  embraced    the    Christian   faith  in 

CQ4  St.  Augustin's  time;  who  sending  Mellitus3  to 
preach  to  them,  he  baptized  king  Sibert,  with  a 

Is  erat  primus  archiepiscopus,  cui  omnis  Anglorum  ecclesia  maims  dare 
consentiret.     Bede,  1.  4,  c.  2. 
32  Bede,  1.  2,  c.  18 ;  1.  3,  c.  8, 20;  1.  4,  c.  1,  2,  5,  17, 1 8. 

Vir  natalibus,  animi  magnitudine,  solertia,  pietate,  clarissimus.— Godwin, 
de  Praesul.  in  vit.  p.  40. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  31 

great  number  of  his  subjects.  This  good  king  was 
taken  away  in  the  year  615,  before  the  gospel  had  got 
firm  root ;  and  his  sons  being  only  half-converts,  it 
backened  the  growth ;  nay,  they  relapsed,  and  drove 
Mellitus  from  his  see.  However,  the  youngest  son, 
Sigibert,  obtaining  the  crown,  arid  making  an  alliance 
with  Oswy,  the  Christian  king  of  the  Northumbers, 
through  his  persuasion  was  baptized  by  Finan,  a  Scotch 
bishop,  and  took  effectual  means  to  bring  his  whole  king 
dom  to  embrace  the  faith.  The  labourer  he  employed 
was  Ceadda,  who  was  soon  after  made  the  second 
bishop  of  London.  Sigibert  was  succeeded  in  the  king 
dom  by  Suithelm,  and  he  again  was  followed  by  the 
joint  rulers,  Sebba  and  Sigher.  The  latter  was  a  great 
libertine  ;  and  his  lewd  life  at  length  plunged  him 
into  apostasy,  a  great  many  of  those  under  his 
jurisdiction  following  his  example.  But  it  was  not  long 
before  both  he  and  his  people  were  reclaimed,  by  the 
influence  king  Sebba  had  over  him,  but  chiefly  by  the 
preaching  of  Jeruman,  a  Mercian  bishop,  whom  Wulf  here, 
king  of  Mercia,  had  sent  for  that  purpose.  Our  histo 
rians  take  notice,  that  king  Sebba  retired  from  the 
world,  and  ended  his  days  in  a  monastery ;  and  that 
Offa,  another  king  of  the  East-Saxons,  forsook  his  king 
dom,  travelled  to  Rome,  and  died  there  in  a  religious 
retirement.  While  Ceadda  was  bishop  of  London,  he 
founded  a  monastery  at  Lestinghen,  in  the  North ;  from 
whence  it  is  presumed  that  he  was  originally  of  that 
country.1  About  the  year  677,  one  Erkenwold  was 
bishop  of  London,  of  whom  it  is  recounted,  that  he  was 
chiefly  instrumental  in  founding  two  monasteries,  one 
at  Chertsey,  on  the  river  Thames,  in  Surrey,  the  other  at 
Barking,  in  Essex,  where  his  sister  Ethelburga  was  the 
first  abbess.2 

The  kingdom  of  the  Northumbers   extended    from 
the  river  Humber,  and  took  in  some  part  of  Scotland. 

1  Lestinghen  is  supposed  to  have  been  near  Whitby,  in  Yorkshire  (Stevens,  in 
Bede,  1.  3,  c.  23).     Ceadda  died  in  664.     Flor.  Wigorn.  561, 562. 

2  Bede,  lib.  2,  c.  5;  1.  3,  c.  22,  23,  30;  1.  4,  c.  11.     Godwin,  de  Preesul. 
Lond.  172, 


32  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

It  was  divided  into  Deira,  in  the  southerly  part,  and 
Bernicia,  which  lay  northward,  over  which  sometimes 
two  different  princes  ruled.  Bede  gives  an  account, 
from  an  ancient  tradition  of  the  country,  that  when  Alia 
was  king  of  Deira,  some  youths  from  those  parts  being 
exposed  to  sale  in  Rome,  were  taken  notice  of  by 
Gregory,  afterwards  pope,  who,  with  many  others, 
admired  their  complexion  and  beautiful  features.  This 
made  Gregory  inquisitive  whence  they  came ;  who, 
being  told  that  they  were  Angles,  of  the  province  of 
Deira,  and  that  the  name  of  their  king  was  Alia,  imme 
diately,  by  a  prophetic  allusion  to  those  names,  foretold, 
that  the  inhabitants  of  that  country  would,  ere  long,  be 
like  angels  ;  be  redeemed  from  God's  wrath,  and  become 
acquainted  with  the  meaning  of  Allelujah.  Not  long 
after,  Gregory  offered  himself  to  go  and  preach  the 
gospel  amongst  them  ;  but  his  presence  being  required 
in  Rome,  upon  account  of  some  public  employment, 
which  could  not  conveniently  be  supplied  by  any  other, 
he  was  disappointed  in  his  design  ;  which,  notwith 
standing,  he  carried  on  when  he  was  chosen  pope,  by 
sending  St.  Augustin  and  other  missioners  thither,  as  I 
have  already  given  an  account,  where  I  spoke  of  the 
conversion  of  Kent.  Some  years  after  Alla's  reign,  when 
Ethelfred  was  king  of  the  Northumbers,  he  made  war 
with  the  British  Christians  that  inhabited  Wales,  and 
was  the  author  of  that  terrible  slaughter  of  the  monks 
of  Bangor.  This  king  had  several  children,  who,  upon 
some  revolution,  were  obliged  to  fly  into  Scotland,  where 
they  were  entertained  by  Eugenius,  king  of  that  country, 
who  took  care  to  have  them  educated  in  the  Christian 
religion.  Ethelfred  had  to  his  wife  Acea,  sister  to  Ed 
win,  to  whom  of  right  the  crown  of  the  Northumbers 
belonged,  which  Edwin  obtained  after  the  death  of 
Ethelfred.  Nothing  was  wanting  in  Edwin,  to  com 
plete  his  character,  but  the  true  faith  ;  and,  in  order  to 
make  him  happy  in  this  respect,  Providence  had,  some 
years  before  his  accession  to  the  crown,  thrown  in  his 
way  several  inducements  ;  for,  while  he  was  in  a  state 
of  banishment,  to  avoid  the  fury  of  king  Ethelfred,  and 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  33 

was  protected  by  Redwald,  king  of  the  East  Angles,,  it 
was  signified  to  him  in  a  vision,  that,  if  he  would 
embrace  the  Christian  religion,  he  should  not  only  be 
placed  in  his  throne,  but  enjoy  also  a  prosperous  reign. 
Many  occurrences  happened  towards  fulfilling  this  pre 
diction.  In  the  first  place,  he  made  a  strict  league 
with  Eadbald,  king  of  Kent,  which  was  strengthened 
by  his  marrying  Ethelberga,  sister  to  Eadbald,  a  Chris 
tian,  and  a  lady  of  great  virtue.  She  took  along  with 
her  one  Paulinus,  a  holy  bishop,  whom  Justus,  arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury,  had  provided  for  her.  He  was 
not  only  to  assist  her  and  her  family,  but  had  likewise 
instructions  to  take  all  opportunities  of  planting  the 
gospel  among  the  Northumbers.  This  matter  was  car 
ried  on,  in  the  year  625.  At  first,  Paulinus  made  little 
progress ;  but,  the  year  following,  a  certain  accident 
happened,  which  brought  things  nearer.  Quichelm, 
king  of  the  West-Saxons,  envying  king  Edwin's  pros 
perous  state,  hired  a  villain  to  assassinate  him  with  a 
poisoned  dagger,  and  particularly  upon  Easter  Sunday ; 
but  some  of  the  courtiers  breaking  the  stroke,  he  only 
received  a  slight  wound.  Queen  Ethelberga,  the  very 
same  night,  was  delivered  of  a  daughter,  called  Eanfleda. 
These  occurrences  gave  Paulinus  an  opportunity  of  put 
ting  the  king  in  mind,  that  public  thanks  ought  to  be 
returned  to  the  true  and  immortal  God,  as  being  the 
author  of  this  double  blessing.  King  Edwin  gave  ear 
to  the  admonition  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure ;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  promised  he  would  become  a  Chris 
tian,  if  he  came  off  victorious  in  the  war  he  designed  to 
engage  in,  against  the  king  of  the  West-Saxons,  who 
had  attempted  his  life  in  so  base  a  manner ;  and,  as  an 
instance  of  his  sincerity,  he  permitted  Paulinus  to  baptize 
his  daughter,  Eanfleda,  with  twelve  more  of  the  king's 
domestics.  This  was  a  good  beginning,  and  a  large 
step  towards  the  conversion  of  the  whole  kingdom. 
The  war  between  Edwin  and  Quichelm  breaking  out, 
and  the  army  of  the  latter  being  routed,  and  the  king 
killed  in  the  field,  this  success  gave  Paulinus  another 
opportunity  of  reminding  Edwin  of  his  promise  of 

VOL.  I.  D 


34  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

becoming  a  Christian.  Edwin  seemed  disposed  to  com 
ply,  and  condescended  so  far  as  to  refrain  from  idola 
trous  worship  ;  but,,  being  a  man  of  thought  and  reflec 
tion,  he  would  riot  as  yet  be  baptized,  nor  proceed  any 
further,  till  he  had  conferred  upon  the  matter  with  some 
of  the  chief  of  his  nobility,  rightly  judging,  that,  with 
their  concurrence  and  approbation,  one  of  the  greatest 
obstacles  would  be  removed.  In  the  meantime,  pope 
Boniface  V  writes  a  letter  to  Edwin,  earnestly  exhort 
ing  him  to  go  on  with  his  design  ;  which  was  accom 
panied  with  another  to  queen  Ethelburga,  full  of  good 
advice  proper  for  the  occasion.  But  an  undertaking  of 
this  nature  being  attended  with  many  difficulties,  and 
the  king  being  somewhat  dilatory,  Paulinus  presumed 
to  make  him  a  private  visit ;  and  being  no  stranger  to 
the  miraculous  vision,  which  he  was  favoured  with,  some 
years  before,  he  renewed  the  memory  of  it  to  him,  and 
immediately  he  took  a  resolution  to  delay  his  conversion 
no  longer.  Yet,  according  to  his  usual  caution,he  ordered 
a  second  meeting  of  his  nobility ;  where  meeting  with 
no  opposition,  the  idolatrous  temples  were  shut  up ;  and 
both  the  king  and  the  greatest  part  of  his  nobility 
were  baptized  on  Easter-day.  A  church  was  erected 
in  haste,  of  timber,  for  that  purpose,  and  dedicated  to 
the  memory  of  St.  Peter.  Edwin  lived  not  long  enough 
to  build  the  church  with  stone,  though  he  laid  the  founda 
tion  ;  that  work  was  completed  by  his  successor,  king 
Oswald. 

This  remarkable  baptism  of  king  Edwin  happened 
in  the  year  627,  being  the  eleventh  of  his  reign.  If  any 
of  my  readers  are  disposed  to  quarrel  with  that  part  of 
the  account,  which  regards  king  Edwin's  vision,  I  will 
only  observe,  in  the  words  of  Collier,  "that,  how  strange 
soever  it  may  appear  to  an  age  of  slender  belief,  I  do 
not  perceive  how  the  truth  of  it  can  well  be  ques 
tioned  ;  for  Bede  relates  it  as  a  certain  matter  of  fact. 
Now  his  attestation  seems  to  be  an  unexceptionable 
authority ;  for  he  was  born  in  this  kingdom  of  North 
umberland,  but  one-and-fifty  years  after  Edwin's  con 
version  ;  so  that  it  is  not  improbable,  but  that  he  might 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  35 

receive  the  account  from  those  who  had  it  from  the 
king.  Besides,  in  the  dedication  of  his  Ecclesiastical 
History  to  Ceolwolph,  king  of  Northumberland,  he 
acquaints  him,  that  the  memoirs  of  the  history  of  that 
kingdom,  since  their  conversion,  were  unexception 
able."1  And,  in  general,  it  may  be  said  of  Bede,  that 
no  historian  could  have  a  better  opportunity  of  being 
truly  informed,  even  as  to  all  parts  of  his  history.  He 
had  the  perusing  of  the  original  records  of  the  Saxon 
churches,  as  he  declares  himself ;  and,  moreover,  might 
receive,  by  word  of  mouth,  all  that  related  to  St.  Augus- 
tin,  from  those  that  knew  him  personally,  as  he  owns 
he  received  himself  what  he  writes,  concerning  St.  Pau- 
linus,  from  one  that  was  his  contemporary,  and  well 
acquainted  with  him.  But,  to  conclude  the  account  of 
king  Edwin's  baptism :  all  his  children  and  family  were 
baptized  on  the  said  day ;  then  followed  the  laborious 
work  of  baptizing  the  inferior  people,  who  flowed  in, 
in  such  crowds,  that  Paulinus  was  obliged  to  baptize 
them  in  the  river,  in  which,  on  one  occasion,  he  spent 
thirty  days  with  unspeakable  toil.  The  fame  of  this 
general  conversion  was  quickly  carried  to  Rome,  where 
Honorius  I  was  now  possessed  of  that  see,  upon  the 
decease  of  pope  Boniface  V.  He  sent  congratulatory 
letters  to  king  Edwin,  full  of  suitable  instructions. 
He  also  created  Paulinus  archbishop  of  York,  and  sent 
him  the  pall.  The  pall  was  also  sent  to  Honorius,  arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  upon  the  decease  of  Justus, 
had  that  see  conferred  upon  him.  At  the  same  time, 
this  pope  gave  directions,  that  the  surviving  incumbent 
of  those  two  sees  should  appoint  each  other  a  successor, 
to  save  the  trouble  of  travelling  to  Rome  for  consecra 
tion  and  instalment.2 

But  now  this  new-converted  people  were  thrown  into 
the  utmost  confusion.  Penda,  the  haughty  king  of 
Mercia,  in  confederacy  with  the  British  king  (though 
this  latter  was  a  Christian),  entered  with  joint  forces  into 
the  kingdom  of  the  Northumbers ;  where,  in  a  bloody 

1  Eccl.  Hist  i.  84.  3  Berle,  1.  2,  c.1,  9— 18. 

D  -2 


30  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  r. 

engagement,  king  Edwin  and  the  flower  of  his 
3  army  lost  their  lives,  October  12,  633,  at  which 
time,  king  Edwin  was  forty-seven  years  of  age,  and  had 
reigned  seventeen.  Both  church  and  state  were  then 
upon  the  brink  of  destruction  ;  insomuch,  that  Paulinus, 
the  archbishop,  was  forced  to  shelter  himself  with  Ead- 
bald,  king  of  Kent,  taking  along  writh  him  the  queen  and 
the  royal  children.  When  he  arrived  in  Kent,  Honorius, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  persuaded  him  to  take  upon 
him  the  administration  of  the  see  of  Rochester,  which 
was  vacant  by  the  death  of  Romanus,  who,  being  sent 
sometime  before,  by  archbishop  Justus,  to  transact  cer 
tain  affairs  at  Rome  with  Pope  Honorius,  was  unfortu 
nately  lost  at  sea.  Paulinus  governed  the  see  of  Ro 
chester  till  he  died.  After  Edwin's  death,  his  nephews 
Osric  and  Eanfrid  governed  for  a  while,  one  over  the 
Bernicians,  the  other  over  the  Deiri.  They  had  been 
educated  in  the  Christian  religion  in  Scotland,  but,  upon 
this  juncture,  relapsed  into  idolatry  ;  imagining  that  this 
method  would  secure  the  crown  to  them,  amongst  a 
people,  who  as  yet  were  not  half  instructed  in  the  duties 
of  Christian  religion,  and  would  be  apt  to  adhere  to  those 
that  revived  their  old  superstition.  By  this  misfortune, 
the  gospel  made  backward  steps,  during  the  reign  of  these 
two  princes ;  but  being  both  cut  off  within  a  year,  in  a  war 
they  had  with  the  Britons,  the  damage  received  through 
them  was  the  less  ;  and  Bede  says,  that  historians  have 
agreed  to  exclude  them  from  the  catalogue  of  the  kings 
of  the  Northumbers.  The  prince  that  succeeded  them 
was  Oswald,  a  deserving  person  in  all  respects,  and  one 
that  retrieved  the  honour  of  his  country,  as  to  temporal 
jurisdiction  ;  but  much  more  by  establishing  the  true 
religion,  and  repairing  the  breaches  made  by  the  late 
disorders.  To  which  purpose  he  sent  for  Aidan,  a 
Scottish  bishop,  who  had  been  educated  in  the  famous 
monastery  of  Hy,  or  lona.  It  was  by  his  labours,  that 
the  Bernician  Northumbers  were  reclaimed,  and  con 
firmed  in  the  Christian  religion ;  upon  which  account,  he 
is  deservedly  styled  their  apostle.  It  is  observed  by 
Bede,  that  Aidan  not  being  well  skilled  in  the  Saxon 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  37 

language,  the  religious  king  Oswald,  being  master  both 
of  the  Scottish  and  Saxon  tongues,  often  became  his  in 
terpreter  in  the  instructions  he  gave  to  the  people.  King 
Oswald  made  him  the  first  bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  called 
the  Holy  Island,  in  the  year  635  ;  where  he  was  after 
wards  succeeded  by  Finan,  Colman,  &c.?  and  died  in 
the  year  651.  Bede  gives  a  large  account  of  his  life, 
and  of  the  regulations  observed  by  the  priests  that  were 
under  his  direction,  which  were  truly  apostolical.  One 
thing,  indeed,  he  takes  notice  of,  that  Aidan  still  la 
boured  under  the  mistake  about  celebrating  Easter.  In 
the  year  642,  a  war  happening  between  Penda,  king  of 
Mercia,  and  Oswald,  this  religious  king  was  cut  off  in 
the  prime  of  his  days.  He  had  performed  great  things, 
both  for  his  country  and  the  church  ;  and  much  greater 
were  expected,  had  providence  thought  fit  to  have  pro 
longed  his  life.  He  founded  a  monastery  at  Lindisfarne, 
where  the  bishops  had  their  see,  until  it  was  translated 
to  Durham.,  about  the  year  990.  It  is  recounted  by 
Bede,  that,  on  one  occasion,  king  Oswald,  engaging  in  a 
fight  with  the  Britons,  who  were  far  superior  in  strength, 
prepared  his  small  army  by  fasting  and  prayer,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  erected  a  cross  in  front  of  them.  The 
place,  where  the  battle  was  fought  and  gained,  was  called 
Denisbourn  ;  that,  where  the  cross  was  erected,  Heon- 
fonfield,  i.e.  the  heavenly  field.  The  priests  belonging 
to  Hagulstad  church  were  accustomed  to  go  in  proces 
sion  hither  annually,  on  the  day  of  king  Oswald's  death, 
where  they  offered  up  their  prayers  for  the  repose  of  his 
soul,  and  performed  other  religious  duties.1 

After  the  death  of  Oswald,  the  kingdom  of  the  Nor- 
thumbers  was  again  divided  for  a  while.  The  Berni- 
cians  were  governed  by  king  Oswy,  the  Deiri  by  king 
Oswyn.  But  it  was  not  long  before  a  rupture  happened 
between  them ;  and  Oswy  being  too  powerful,  the 
other  was  forced  to  submit.  He  was  afterwards  put  to 
death  by  Oswy ;  which  was  looked  upon  as  a  piece  of 
cruelty  ;  especially,  the  generality  of  the  people  had  an 

1  Bede,  1.  2,  c.  20 ;  1.  2,  c.  1—3,  5,  9,  17.  Ut  vigils  pro  salute  animse  ejus 
acerent.  Ib.  c.  2. 


38  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

abhorrence  of  the  action,  upon  account  of  king  Oswyn's 
extraordinary  qualifications,  both  for  the  benefit  of  go 
vernment  and  religion.  Neither  was  king  Oswy  less 
deserving,  setting  aside  that  barbarous  fact;  which, 
notwithstanding,  he  in  some  measure  atoned  for,  by 
founding  a  monastery  at  Ingethling,  the  place  where  the 
unfortunate  Oswyn  was  executed ;  the  priests  of  the 
community  being  under  an  obligation  of  offering  up 
prayers  for  the  souls  of  both  the  kings.  Oswy  being 
now  sole  master  of  the  Northumbers,  he  applied  him 
self  diligently  both  to  the  affairs  of  state  and  church. 
His  first  great  enterprise  was  a  war  with  Penda,  king 
of  Mercia,  who  was  killed  upon  the  field,  and  his  army 
entirely  routed.  By  this  means,,  the  whole  kingdom  of 
Mercia  became  for  some  years  subject  to  Oswy,  and 
afforded  him  an  opportunity  of  planting  the  gospel 
among  them.  In  the  next  place,  he  endeavoured  a  re 
conciliation  between  the  Saxons  and  Scots,  concerning 
the  celebration  of  Easter  ;  for,  though  they  were  united 
in  all  other  matters,  and  were  joint  labourers  in  propa 
gating  the  Christian  religion,  yet  both  the  British  and 
Scotch  Christians  still  went  on  in  their  old  way,  of  cele 
brating  the  feast  of  Easter  at  an  undue  time,  and  contrary 
to  the  practice  of  the  universal  church.  To  put  an  end 
to  the  disputes  which  frequently  happened  upon  this 
subject,  a  conference  was  appointed  between  the  two 
parties.  The  place  of  meeting  was  a  monastery,  at 
Streanshalch,  now  Whitby,  where  the  famous  Hilda  was 
abbess.  They  assembled  in  the  year  664.  The  Scot 
tish  custom  was  supported  by  Colman,  bishop  of  Lin- 
disfarne,  and  all  his  monks  and  clergy;  as  also  by  bishop 
Cedda  and  the  abbess  Hilda  ;  besides,  king  Oswy  him 
self,  who  was  present,  seemed  to  favour  that  party.1  The 
practice  of  the  universal  church  was  maintained  by 
abbot  Wilfrid  (afterwards  archbishop  of  York),  by  Agil- 
bert,  bishop  of  the  East-Saxons,  the  two  learned  priests, 

1  Bede  (ib.  c.  4,  17)  tells  us  that  the  Scottish  custom  was  different  from  that 
of  the  Jews  and  Quartodecimani :  "  non,  ut  quidam  falso  opinantur,  quartade- 
cima  Luna,  in  qualibet  feria,  cum  Judseis,  sed  die  Dominica,"  &c. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  39 

Agatho  and  Romamis,  and  others,,  to  whom  we  may 
join  the  prince,  son  of  king  Oswy,  who  appeared  in  their 
cause.  What  Colman  and  his  adherents  chiefly  alleged, 
in  their  justification,  was  the  practice  of  Columba,  Aidan, 
and  others,  their  predecessors,  whom  it  could  be  no 
crime  to  imitate,  since  they  were  persons  of  an  unques 
tionable  merit  with  all  parties.  Now,  the  substance  of 
Wilfrid's  reply  was  this  : — He  does  not  deny  any  part 
of  the  advantage  of  the  character  of  those  great  men  ;  he 
believes  they  meant  well.  But  then,  he  adds,  it  was 
nothing  but  misinformation  which  kept  them  in  this 
error  ;  which  they  would  willingly  have  laid  down,  had 
they  understood  the  controversy  more  exactly.  But 
he  tells  Colman  and  his  partners,  that,  if  they  continued 
in  their  singularity,  refused  the  regulation  of  the  apos 
tolic  see,  and  went  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  uni 
versal  church,  they  could  have  none  of  Columba's  ex 
cuse.  Upon  the  breaking  up  of  the  assembly,  the  king 
and  audience  declared  themselves  to  be  satisfied  with 
Wilfrid's  arguments ;  only  Colman,  appearing  not  pleased 
with  the  issue  of  this  affair,  soon  after  left  Lindisfarne, 
and,  going  into  Scotland,  gave  the  bishops  and  abbots 
in  those  parts  an  account  of  the  late  assembly.  Which 
we  may  imagine  had  no  ill  effect ;  for,  by  degrees,  the 
Scottish  and  British  Christians  laid  aside  their  erroneous 
usage  ;  so  that,  in  Bede's  time,  none  were  found  to  ad 
here  to  it,  only  some  few  of  the  Britons  that  lived  in 
the  more  remote  parts  of  Wales.1 

The  next  that  succeeded  in  this  kingdom  was  6?o 
Ecgfrid,  son  to  Oswy,  a  prince  of  a  religious  and 
commendable  behaviour.     Many  worthy  persons  found 
protection  under  his  reign  ;  and  all  well-disposed  minds 
were  encouraged  by  him  in  works  of  piety.     When  a 
national   council  was  called  by  Theodore,   archbishop 

1  Bede,  1.  3,  c.  14,  24,  25,  26.  This  writer  gives  a  particular  account  of  the 
debate  at  Whitby,  which  shows,  that  the  Scots  went  altogether  upon  a  mistake 
of  their  ancestors,  who  were  not  acquainted  with  the  discipline  of  the  church. 
In  anotl 
tion  of 
apud  eos  usque 


40  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

of  Canterbury,  king  Ecgfrid  joined  with  the  rest  of 
the  Saxon  kings,  to  send  the  learned  men  of  his  country 
to  Herudford,  now  Hertford,  and  finish  a  work  that 
was  so  necessary  towards  reforming  the  church,  and 
establishing  ecclesiastical  discipline.  He  assisted  Wil 
frid,  archbishop  of  York,  in  laying  the  foundation  of 
Ripon  monastery,  about  672  ;  and  the  like  assistance 
he  afforded  to  Benedict  Biscop,  the  founder  of  St.  Peter's 
monastery,  at  Wyremouth,  about  682.  As  his  ances 
tors  laid  the  first  foundation  of  the  see  of  Lindisfarne,  so 
he  honoured  the  place,  by  filling  it  with  that  excellent 
man,  St.  Cuthbert,  who  was  consecrated  by  Theodore, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  the  year  685.  Many 
wonderful  things  are  recounted  by  Bede  of  this  holy 
bishop,  who  had  been  abbot  of  Mailross ;  from  which 
post  he  retired,  and  made  choice  of  an  eremetical  life, 
from  whence  he  was  in  a  manner  drawn  by  force  to 
accept  of  the  see  of  Lindisfarne  ;  which,  after  two  years' 
residence,  he  quitted,  and  betook  himself  to  his  be 
loved  retirement.  St.  Wilfrid  was  as  remarkable  in  a 
public  way,  as  Cuthbert  was  for  his  privacy.  From  an 
abbot  he  became  archbishop  of  York ;  where  his  life 
was  attended  with  many  controversies,  and  several  ac 
cusations  were  laid  against  him.  He  was  twice  removed 
out  of  his  diocese  upon  false  impeachments.  In  one  of 
his  banishments,  having  embarked,  for  the  purpose  of 
proceeding  to  Rome,  and  prosecuting  an  appeal  to  the 
Pope,  he  was  cast  away  on  the  Frisons,  a  people  of  Ger 
many,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  their  conversion,  which, 
not  long  after,  was  completed  by  other  missioners.  On 
his  return,  he  retired  to  Selsey,  near  Chichester,  and 
proved  the  happy  instrument  of  bringing  over  a  great 
part  of  the  South-Saxon  kingdom  to  the  true  faith.  In 
his  other  persecution,  he  appealed  again  to  Rome,  and, 
as  on  the  former  occasion,  was  successful  against  his 
adversaries.  At  length,  therefore,  he  was  honourably 
restored  to  his  see,  where  he  died  in  the  year  709.  In 
the  meantime,  Ecgfrid  had  been  succeeded  by  king 
Alfred,  in  whose  reign  we  meet  with  that  admirable 
prelate,  John  of  Beverley,  who,  in  his  tender  years,  was 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  41 

educated  in  Whitby  monastery,  where  the  royal  abbess 
Hilda  was  chief  superior.  Afterwards,  he  became  a 
hearer  of  Theodore,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  of 
the  learned  abbot  Adrian.  Being  perfectly  qualified 
for  the  dignity,  he  was  made  bishop  of  Hagulstad,  or 
Hexham ;  and  from  thence  preferred  to  the  see  of  York, 
which  he  afterwards  resigned,  and  retired  to  Beverley, 
where  he  had  founded  a  collegiate  church  of  clergy. 
His  death  is  placed  in  the  year  72 1 .  Bede,  who  re 
ceived  the  order  of  priesthood  at  his  hands,  gives  a  full 
account  of  his  life,  and  of  several  wonderful  things  that 
were  performed  by  him.1 

The  last  king  of  the  Northumbers,  whom  I  shall 
trouble  the  reader  with,  upon  the  present  occasion,  is 
Ceolwolph,  contemporary  with  Bede,  to  whom  he  dedi 
cates  his  Ecclesiastical  History.  This  king  was  a  man 
of  letters,  as  well  as  of  religion,  who,  after  a  reign  of  a 
few  years,  resigned  his  crown  to  his  kinsman  Egbert, 
and  retired  into  a  monastery,  in  the  year  738.  So  good 
an  example,  by  degrees,  excited  his  successor  to  imitate 
him ;  for,  in  the  year  757,  Egbert  also  retired  into  a 
monastery.  I  must  not  forget  to  mention  Bede,  the 
parent  of  our  Saxon  History,  who  died  either  in  735,  or 
736  ;  nor  St.  Boniface,  the  apostle  of  Germany,  who  was 
made  archbishop  of  Mentz,  in  745.  All  historians  speak 
of  him.2 

The  first  king  of  the  East  Angles,  that  received 
baptism,  was  Redwald,  who,  relapsing  into  idolatry 
through  his  wife's  importunity,  wras,  notwithstanding,  so 
complaisant  to  the  Christians,  as  to  permit  theirs  and 
the  heathenish  worship  to  be  celebrated  in  the  same 
temple.  But  his  son  Eorpwald,  when  he  came  to 
reign,  was  resolutely  bent  to  admit  of  the  gospel 
without  delay  or  reserve ;  and,  while  he  was  carrying 
on  the  work,  was  murdered  by  his  infidel  subjects. 
His  brother  Sibert,  or  Sigebert,  who  succeeded  him, 
pursued  the  good  design.  He  had  been  educated  in 

1  Id.  1.  4,  c.  5,  12,  13, 23,  27,  28 ;  1.  5,  c.  2,  3.  Malmesb.  260,  261.  Flor. 
Wig.  566.  Capgrave  in  vit.  S.  Joan,  cle  Beverl. 

8  Malmesb.  24 ;  Westm.  142 ;  Surius,  in  June  5. 


42  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

France,  and  well  grounded  in  the  Christian  religion, 
before  he  came  to  the  crown.  The  person  he  chiefly 
relied  upon,  for  the  instructing  of  his  people,  was  one 
Faelix,  a  Burgundian  by  birth,  a  learned  and  zealous 
bishop,  whom  Honorius,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had 
recommended  to  him  for  the  purpose.  Fselix  was 
assisted  by  one  Furseus,  an  Irish  priest,  who  came  out 
of  his  own  country,  and  fixed  himself  among  the  East- 
Angles,  as  if  Providence  had  directed  him  thither,  upon 
this  commendable  occasion.  Furseus  afterwards  went 
over  into  France,  where  his  memory  is  preserved  to  this 
day.  Before  he  left  the  East- Angles,  he  had  obtained 
leave  of  the  king  to  found  a  monastery  at  a  place  in 
Suffolk,  called  Cnobhersburg.1  As  for  St.  Fselix,  he  had 
his  see  at  Dunwich,  a  sea -port  town  in  Suffolk,  which, 
as  our  records  give  an  account,  was  formerly  a  town  of 
great  note,  having  six  churches,  besides  chapels  and 
monasteries ;  but,  since  that,  came  to  nothing,  being 
demolished  by  the  Danes,  and  devoured  by  the  sea. 
The  East-Angles  formerly  had  two  episcopal  sees,  one 
at  Dunwich,  the  other  at  Elmham :  we  have  a  list  of 
some  of  their  bishops  till  the  Danish  devastation,  from 
which  time  we  hear  no  more  of  them,  for  a  hundred 
years.  About  955,  bishops  were  again  placed  at  Elm- 
ham,  and  so  continued  till  a  little  before  the  conquest. 
Afterwards,  we  meet  with  three  bishops  among  the 
East- Angles,  who  kept  their  see  at  Thetford ;  the  last 
was  William  Herbert,  who  removed  his  see  to  Norwich, 
in  the  reign  of  William  Rufus.  St.  Faelix  died  in  the 
year  647,  and  king  Sigebert  ended  his  days  in  a 
monastery.  St.  Fselix  founded  a  school  at  Fselixtown, 
now  called  Flixton,  in  Suffolk,  in  which  he  had  the 
king's  assistance.  And  some  of  our  antiquarians  place 
the  first  rise  of  the  University  of  Cambridge  at  this 
epocha.2 

Anna,  another  king  of  the  East-Angles,  is  dis 
tinguished  for  his  piety  and  religious  zeal,  by  Bede  and 
other  historians ;  and  though  he  was  unfortunately 

1  Now  called  Burg  Castle. 

2  Bede,  1.  2,  c.  15  ;  1.  3,  c.  18, 19.    Godwin,  de  Praesul.  Norwic.  423—425. 


ART.  i,]  SAXONS.  43 

killed  in   the  wars  he  had  with   Penda,  king  of 
Mercia,  yet  his  memory  was  preserved  in  his  chil 
dren,  who  were  every  way  deserving  of  so  worthy  a 
parent.     One  of  his  daughters,  called  Edelburga,  being 
sent  into  France,  put  on  a  religious  habit,  in  the  monas 
tery  of  St.  Fara,  and  became  abbess  after  St.  Fara's 
decease.      Another    daughter,   named  Etheldreda,    or 
Edilrida,   after  having  been   twice   married,  obtained 
leave  of  her  second  husband,  Ecgfrid,  king  of  the  North- 
umbers,  to  retire  into  a  monastery ;  and  accordingly, 
St.  Wilfrid  performed  the  ceremony  at  her  admittance. 
Not  long  after,  in  the  year  673,  she  laid  the  founda 
tion  of  a  monastery,  at  a  place  now  called  the  Isle 
of  Ely,  wrhere  a  church  had  formerly  been  built  by  St. 
Augustin's  direction.     Here  she  was  at  the  head  of  a 
numerous  family  of  religious  women,  and  was  succeeded 
by  her  sister,  Sexburga,  as  I  have  already  observed. 
It  is  presumed  by  some  of  our  antiquarians,  that  she 
either  founded  a  monastery  for  men  in  the  same  island, 
or  that  the  same  monastery  fell  into  the  hands  of  men. 
However,  it  flourished  till  about  870,  when  it  was 
destroyed  by  the  Danes.     Afterwards,  it  was  re 
paired,  and  certain  canons  had  possession,  till  Ethelwald, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  made  a  purchase  of  the  island  from 
king  Edgar,  about  970,  and  bestowed  it  upon  the 
Benedictine  monks.    When  William  the  Conqueror 
came  over,  several  of  the  Saxon  nobility  retired  hither, 
and  made  a  stand  against  him,  it  being  a  place  of  con 
siderable  strength ;   at  which  time,  one  Thurstan,  the 
seventh  abbot,  was  head  of  the  monastery.     The  last, 
and  the  eleventh,  abbot  was  Richard,  in  whose  time  the 
revenues  of  the  monastery  being  very  great,  and  the 
diocese  of  Lincoln  too  extensive,  an  episcopal  see  was 
erected  at  Ely,  and  a  competency  taken  from  Lincoln 
and  Ely  monastery,  for  the  new  bishop's  support.     One 
Harvey  was  the  first  bishop,  translated  from  Bangor,  in 
the  year  1109.1 

1  Bede,  1.  3,  c.  8;  1.  4,  c.  19.     Ingulph,  24,  ed.  Gale.    Hist.  Ely,  516,  519- 
M.Westm.  119. 


44  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

Kinegils  was  the  first  Christian  king  of  the  West- 
634  Saxons.  He,  with  a  great  number  of  his  subjects, 
was  baptized  by  Birinus,  who  was  sent  to  preach  the 
Gospel  in  that  country,  by  Honorius  L  bishop  of  Rome. 
Birinus  placedhis  episcopal  see  at  Dor  Chester,  and  is  some 
times  called  bishop  of  the  West-Saxons.  He  died  in  the 
year  650.  Kenelwalch  succeeded  his  father  Kinegils. 
643  As  to  the  first  part  of  his  reign,  he  may  be  reckoned 
among  the  worst  of  kings ;  but  in  the  middle  and  latter 
part  of  his  reign,  he  was  equal  to  the  best.  He  not  only 
cast  off  his  lawful  wife,  who  was  sister  to  Penda,  king  of 
Mercia,  but  also  relapsed  into  idolatry.  Penda,  what 
ever  he  might  think  *of  the  latter  fact,  as  being  himself 
a  pagan,  resented  the  first  so  far  as  to  make  war  with 
him  ;  and,  in  the  conclusion,  forced  him  to  leave  his 
kingdom.  Upon  which,  Kenelwalch,  flying  unto  Anna, 
the  Christian  king  of  the  East-Angles,  for  protection, 
was  kindly  received.  However,  Anna  reproached  him 
severely  for  his  crimes ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  by  his 
good  advice,  at  length  made  him  relent,  and  become 
serious.  He  took  to  his  wife  again,  was  reconciled  to 
the  Christian  religion,  and,  after  three  years,  was  re 
placed  in  his  dominions.  His  zeal  for  religion  after 
wards  became  very  conspicuous.  He  built  a  stately 
church  at  Winchester;  in  which,  and  many  other  pious 
works,  he  was  assisted  by  two  pious  and  learned  bishops, 
Agilbert  and  Eleutherius.  Agilbert  was  a  Frenchman 
by  birth,  educated  in  Ireland ;  from  whence  he  came  over 
purposely  to  be  an  assistant  in  the  conversion  of  the 
West-Saxons.  When  king  Kenelwalch  was  informed  of 
Agilbert' s  qualifications,  both  as  to  his  piety  and  learn 
ing,  he  importuned  him  to  accept  of  the  see  of  Dorches 
ter,  Birinus  being  now  dead.  He  accepted  of  it.  After 
wards,  the  king  was  projecting  to  have  two  episcopal 
sees  for  the  West-Saxons,  one  at  Dorchester,  the  other 
at  Winchester.  In  the  latter  he  placed  Wini,  a  Saxon 
bishop  :  but  Agilbert,  not  approving  of  this  regulation, 
went  over  into  France,  where  he  became  bishop  of  Paris. 
Soon  after,  bishop  Wini  fell  under  the  king's  displeasure, 
and  was  obliged  to  leave  his  see.  By  this  means,  the 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  45 

West-Saxons  were  without  bishops  for  a  considerable 
time;  and  the  king,  looking  upon  some  misfortunes, 
wThich  had  lately  happened  in  his  kingdom,  to  have  been 
chiefly  owing  to  the  want  of  a  good  pastor,  and  being 
satisfied  of  Agilbert's  merits,  sent  to  invite  him  over, 
and  take  possession  of  his  old  see.  Agilbert  returned 
him  a  civil  answer  ;  but  withal  told  him,  that  he  could  not 
remove  from  Paris,  yet  would  provide  him  with  a  person 
in  all  respects  qualified.  Accordingly,  he  sent  over  his 
own  nephew,  Eleutherius,  who  was  consecrated  bishop 
of  the  West-Saxons  by  Theodore,  archbishop  of  Canter 
bury.  He  was  acceptable  both  to  the  king  and  people, 
and  a  singular  benefactor  to  the  monastery  of  Malmes- 
bury,  where  the  holy  and  learned  Aldelm  was  made  abbot 
by  his  appointment.  Besides  Dorchester  and  Win 
chester,  we  meet  afterwards  with  several  other  episco 
pal  sees  among  the  West-Saxons,  viz.,  Sherbourn,  St. 
Petrock's,  St.  German's-Taunton,  or  Devonshire,  and 
Crediton,  &c. ;  which,  by  degrees,  were  incorporated 
under  Exeter,  Winchester,  Salisbury,  Chichester,  &C.1 

After  the  decease  of  Kenelwalch,  the  kingdom 
of  the  West-Saxons  was  governed  for  awhile  by 
his  queen  ;  and  then   two   princes,  who  by  Bede  are 
called  only  sub-reguli,  divided  it  between  them  ;  but 
they  not  reigning  very  long,  it  fell  to  Cedwalla, 
whose  courage  and  bravery  made  way  for  the  dig 
nity,  that  could  not  be  claimed  by  any  very  near  affinity 
of  blood.     He  was  a  pagan,  at  his  coming  to  the  crown, 
but  had  made  a  promise  to  become  a  Christian,  if  he 
subdued  the  Isle  of  Wight,  which  held  out  against  him  ; 
and  being  prosperous  in  the  undertaking,  he  fulfilled  his 
promise.    The  inhabitants  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  were,  at 
that  time,  idolaters,  but  were  converted  immediately 
after,  by  the  procurement  of  St.  Wilfrid,  the  banished 
bishop  of  York  ( and  nowT  labouring  in  the  conversion 
of  the  West-Saxons),  who  sent  his  nephew,  Bern  wine, 
and  another  zealous  priest,  called  Hiddila,  to  preach  and 
establish  the  Gospel  among  them ;    which    was  done 

1  Bede,  1.  3,  c.  7.     Dugd.  Monast  i.  31,  50. 


46  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

effectually ;  and  king  Cedwalla,  according  to  his  pro 
mise  made  to  Wilfrid,  bestowed  a  considerable  tract  of 
land  in  the  island  upon  him,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  church.     King  Cedwalla  would  not  be  baptized  till 
he  had  visited  Rome,  where  he  received  that  blessing 
from  the  hands  of  pope  Sergius,  in  the  year  689,  and 
died   the    same   year,  April   20,   while   he    was    yet 
vested  with  the  baptismal  robe.     He  was  buried  in  St. 
Peter's  church,    pope  Sergius   ordering  a  remarkable 
epitaph  to  be  fixed  upon  his  tomb,  which  is  still  to  be 
seen.   Thus  finished  his  days  the  religious  king  Cedwalla, 
who  voluntarily  forsook  his  kingdom,  in  the  height  of 
his  glory  and  flower  of  his  age,  being  only  about  thirty, 
and  having  reigned  only  two  years.1     The  next  king 
of  the  West-Saxons  was  Ina,  a  prince  inferior  to 
none  in  courage,  wisdom,  and  virtuous  inclinations,  of 
which  his  story  affords  us  many  remarkable  instances. 
He  was  successful  in  his  wars  against  all  the  neighbour 
ing  princes,  that  disturbed  the  quiet  of  his  people ;  and 
his  name  became  formidable  among  the  Saxon  kings. 
He  was  the  author  of  that  noble  foundation,  the  abbey 
church  of  Glastonbury,  erecting  it  at  the  east  end  of  the 
ancient  British  structure.    He  built  also  a  noble  church 
at  Wells  (formerly  called  Tidington),  in  memory  of  St. 
Andrew,  which,  about  sixty  years  after,  was  made  col 
legiate  by  king  Kenulph,   the  donation   bearing  date 
766.     It  was  afterwards,  about  905,  made  an  episcopal 
see,  and  always  under  the  direction  of  secular  canons. 
In  king  William  II's  reign,  one  John  de  Villula  was 
bishop  of  Wells,  who  removed  the  see  to  Bath,  where 
he  refounded  a  monastery,  which  had  formerly  been 
founded  by  Offa,  king  of  Mercia,  but  since  destroyed 
by  the  Danes.     In  king  Stephen's  reign,  about  1 1 36, 
one  Robert  was  bishop  of  Wells ;  it  was  then  ordered 
that  the  bishops  should  be  styled  of  Bath  and  Wells,  and 
that  both  churches  should  join  in  their  election.     Fre 
quent  disputes  happened  between  the  canons  of  Wells, 
and  monks  of  Bath,  concerning  these  elections.     But  to 

1  Becle.l.  4,  c.  12,  16;  1.  5,  c.  7. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  47 

return  to  king  Ina.  About  72 7,  he  established  the  re 
gulation  for  the  annual  payment  of  a  penny  a  house  to 
the  see  of  Rome  ;  which  was  called  Rome-scot,  or  Peter- 
pence.  He  also  published  excellent  laws,,  both  relating 
to  civil  and  ecclesiastical  matters,  which  he  did,  as  it  is 
expressed,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  his  bishops, 
clergy,  and  nobility.  Having  disposed  matters  in  this 
manner,  for  the  good  both  of  church  and  state,  he  began 
to  turn  his  thoughts  more  seriously  upon  himself,  and  to 
provide  more  particularly  for  the  great  concern  of  his 
soul.  Wherefore,  having  first  settled  the  crown  upon 
his  kinsman  Ethelard,  he  took  a  journey  to  Rome,  where, 
as  some  of  our  historians  report,  he  served  God  with 
great  humility,  in  a  common  plebeian  dress  ;  but  others 
tell  us  he  retired  into  a  monastery.  He  died  in  728. l 

Penda,  king  of  Mercia,  had  a  son  called  Peda, 
who  marrying  Alfleda,  daughter  to  Oswy,  king  of  the 
Northumbers,  one  of  the  articles  of  the  marriage  treaty 
was,  that  Peda  should  become  a  Christian ;  to  which  his 
father  Penda  was  not  averse,  though  he  was  a  Pagan, 
and  master  of  no  good  quality,  besides  vast  abilities  to 
support  his  ambition,  which  was  without  bounds.  Ac 
cording  to  agreement,  therefore,  Peda  was  baptized 
by  Finan,  a  Scotch  bishop.  And  not  long  after,  Provi 
dence  ordered  things  so,  that  it  proved  an  introduction 
to  the  conversion  of  all  the  kingdom  of  Mercia ; 
for  Oswy  and  Penda  being  at  war,  and  Penda  hap-  6 
pening  to  be  killed,  Mercia  became  subject  to  Oswy ; 
which  afforded  an  opportunity  of  spreading  the  gospel 
in  those  dominions ;  especially  since  Peda,  heir  to  the 
crown,  was  become  a  Christian,  and  was  willing  to  give 
a  helping  hand.  The  preachers,  who  laboured  chiefly  in 
bringing  Mercia  to  embrace  the  faith,  were  Scotch  mis- 
sioners,  under  the  direction  of  the  archbishop  of  Can 
terbury,  viz.  Finan,  Diuma,  Cellach,  and  Trumhere, 
who,  though  a  Saxon  by  birth,  was  educated  and  or- 

1  Ibid,  1.4,  c.  15;  1.  5,  c.  7.  Malmesb.  14,  15.  ed.  Savile.  Antiq.  Glaston. 
apud  Gale,  Hi,  309,  310.  M.  Westm.  135.  Monast.  Ang.  i,  12,  13.  Leland, 
Itin.  ii.  39.  Godwin,  in  Episc.  Bath  et  Well.  [On  the  origin  of  the  Peter- 
pence, see  Lingafd's  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  98,  99.— 7*.] 


48  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

dained  in  Scotland,  and,  about  this  time,  was  abbot  of 
a  monastery  within  a  few  miles  of  Richmond,  called 
Ingethling.  While  Mercia  was  under  the  administra 
tion  of  the  king  of  the  Northumbers,  several  episcopal 
sees  were  erected  in  those  parts.  Litchfield  was  made 
an  episcopal  see,  in  the  year  656,  of  which  Diuma  be 
came  the  first  bishop,  and,  at  the  same  time,  was  bishop 
of  Lindisfarne.  The  second  bishop  of  Litchfield  was 
Cellach ;  after  him  came  Trumhere  and  Jeruman ;  the 
fifth  was  Cedda,  or  St.  Chad,  who  died  in  the  year  672, 
of  whom  Bede  gives  a  large  and  edifying  account.  One 
passage  I  will  be  bold  to  trouble  the  reader  with,  which 
is  a  plain  proof  of  St.  Chad's  solid  piety.  Theodoras, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  making  his  visit,  seemed  to 
suspect  that  St.  Chad  had  not  been  ordained,  according 
to  the  canons,  and  questioned  him  about  it.  All  that 
St.  Chad  replied  was,  that,  in  case  it  was  fact  that  he 
was  not  truly  ordained,  he  was  very  willing  to  lay  down 
his  office,  for  he  knew  himself  unworthy  of  it,  and  under 
took  it  purely  out  of  obedience.  The  archbishop  was 
mightily  pleased  with  the  answer;  he  supplied  some 
ceremonies  which  had  been  omitted,  and  established 
him  in  the  two  sees  of  Litchfield  and  Lindisfarne.  Our 
historians  make  mention  of  several  episcopal  sees,  in  the 
Mercian  kingdom,  about  this  time,  and  some  years  after, 
viz.  Litchfield,  Dorchester,  Leicester,  Sydnecester,  Wor 
cester,  and  Hereford,  which  last  became  an  episcopal 
see  about  680,  one  Putta  being  the  first  bishop.  At 
the  same  time,  a  monastery  of  nuns  was  founded  at  Glou 
cester,  which  was  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  arid  lay  waste 
till  1058,  when  Alfred,  archbishop  of  York,  rebuilt  and 
refounded  it,  for  the  use  of  Benedictine  monks.  There 
was  another  monastery  of  nuns  founded  in  Oxford, 
about  /30,  by  one  Frideswida,  a  religious  virgin,  daugh 
ter  of  Didan,  or  Didacus,  a  noble  Saxon  of  the  kingdom 
of  Mercia.  This  monastery  flourished  till  847,  when  it 
was  destroyed  by  the  Danes.  Afterwards,  being  repair 
ed,  it  became  a  cell  to  Abingdon  monastery.  Lastly,  it 
was  made  an  independent  priory,  and  stocked  with 
regular  canons,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  What  fate  it 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  49 

had  afterwards  will  be  seen  in  the  story  of  cardinal 
Wolsey,  who  erected  his  famous  college  upon  that  foun 
dation..1 

We  meet  with  several  other  good  kings  that  governed 
the  Mercians,  namely  Ethelred,  who  retired  from  the 
world  in  704,,  and  died  in  a  monastery.  I  cannot  omit 
that  remarkable  miracle  which  happened  in  his  reign, 
and  which  Bede  relates  very  advantageously  towards 
establishing  its  credit.  In  a  battle  between  the  king  of 
Mercia  and  another  of  the  Saxon  princes,  one  of  the 
soldiers,  who  was  thought  to  be  killed,  happened  to  be 
only  taken  prisoner.  After  much  enquiry  he  could  not 
be  heard  of.  Now  a  certain  holy  priest,  his  particular 
friend,  was  so  good  as  frequently  to  offer  up  mass  for 
the  repose  of  his  soul,  supposing  him  to  be  dead.  The 
prisoner  being  afterwards  released,  related  to  all  his 
acquaintance,  that,  at  a  certain  time,  on  such  particular 
days,  his  fetters  usually  dropt  off  his  legs.  Bede  is  so 
circumstantial  as  to  add,  that  he  heard  this  account 
from  several,  that  had  it  from  the  person  to  whom  it 
happened.2  I  leave  the  reader  to  make  his  reflections. 
The  next  king  of  the  Mercians  was  Kenred,  nephew  to 
Ethelred,  who  endeavoured  to  copy  out  his  uncle's  per 
fections.  And  he  was  a  good  proficient ;  for,  after  six 
years'  reign,  he  forsook  the  world,  and  travelled  to  Rome, 
with  Offa,  king  of  the  East-Saxons,  where  they  both 
ended  their  days  in  a  monastery.  They  left  their  coun 
try  in  the  year  709.  Kenred,  at  his  departure,  settled 
the  crown  upon  his  kinsman  Coelred,  a  lewd  prince, 
and  far  from  following  the  good  example  that  went 
before.  His  behaviour  and  frightful  exit  appear  in  a 
letter,  written  from  abroad  by  St.  Boniface,  apostle  of 
Germany,  to  Edilbald,  otherwise  Ethelbald,  his  suc 
cessor,  wherein  the  saint  vehemently  exhorts  Edilbald 
to  take  warning  at  Coelred' s  fate  (for  Boniface  was  in- 


1  Bede,  1.  3,  c.  24,  28 ;  1.  4,  c.  2,  3.  Higden,  Polychron.  206,  207.  Paris,  54. 

2  Bede  (lib.  4,  c.  22),  speaking  of  this  miracle,  says,  "  Intellexerunt  enim 
quod  sacrificium  salutare  ad  redemptionem  valeret  et  animae  et  corporis." 

VOL.  I.  E 


50  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [I-ART  i. 

formed  he  was  addicted  to  the  same  vices),  who,  for 
robbing  the  church,  and  seducing  virgins  consecrated  to 
God,  was  snatched  out  of  the  world,  from  among  his 
nobles,  at  the  head  of  a  feast,  without  the  happiness  of 
confessing  his  sins,  or  receiving  the  sacrament,  all  the 
while  muttering  frightful  words,  as  if  he  were  talking 
with  the  devil.1  It  does  not  appear  directly  how  Edilbald 
received  this  reprimand  ;  but,  by  what  happened  after, 
we  may  guess  he  made  a  proper  use  of  it ;  for  Cuthbert, 
bishop  of  Mercia,  in  a  little  while  called  a  council  for 
the  reformation  of  his  district :  it  assembled  at 

'  Cloveshoe,  whither  king  Edilbald  repaired  with 
thirty- three  of  his  nobility.  This  circumstance,  with 
his  settling  Croyland  upon  the  monks,  has  a  good  as 
pect,  and  seems  to  import  as  if  he  was  now  become  a 
new  man.2 

The  next  king  of  Mercia,  who  deserves  to  be  taken 
notice  of,  upon  the  present  occasion,  is  Offa,  in  whom 
we  may  observe  a  variety  of  behaviour.  In  his  youthful 
days,  virtue  and  vice  struggled  very  hard  for  a  supe 
riority  ;  in  the  issue,  ambition  or  love  of  power  seems 
to  be  the  passion  he  was  mostly  transported  with.  This 
pushed  him  upon  methods,  which  bore  hard  upon  the 
liberties  of  his  subjects,  both  civil  and  religious.  In  the 
latter  respect,  he  had  some  contests  with  Lambert,  arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury ;  wherein  he  discovered  somewhat 
of  revenge,  as  well  as  ambition.  His  scheme  was 
this :  having  great  power  with  pope  Adrian  I,  he  ob 
tained  his  consent  that  the  see  of  Litchfield  might  be 
made  archiepiscopal ;  which  he  brought  about  (as  it 
appeared  afterwards)  by  fraudulent  methods  and  misin 
formation.  However,  by  this  means,  Canterbury  was 

1  Coelredum,  preclecessorem  tuum,  stupratorem  sanctimonialium,  et  eccle- 
siasticorum  privilegiorum  fractorera,  splendide  cum  suis  epulantem,  malignus 
spiritus  eripuit,  et  sine  confessione  et  viatico,.cum  diabolo  sermocinanti,  et  legem 
Dei  detestanti,  animam  extorsit.     S.  Boniface,  Epist.  ad  Ethelbaldum. 

2  Bede,  1.  4,  c.  22 ;  1.  5,  c.  20.     [The  settlement  of  Croyland  was  made  ^in 
716,  immediately  on  his  accession  to  the  throne  (Ingulph,  2).     Other  similar 

•'acts,  however,  of  pious  munificence  were  not  wanting,  after  the  period  in 
•  -question.     See  Cressy,  p.  609.— J1.] 


ART.   I.] 


SAXONS. 


51 


stript,  and  several  of  its  suffragans  put  under  the  new 
archiepiscopal  see  of  Litchfield.  I  might  mention  some 
instances  of  the  like  nature,  in  regard  of  the  civil  rights 
of  his  people ;  but  they  are  foreign  to  my  design,  and 
both  the  one  and  the  other  ought  to  be  buried  in  obli 
vion,  seeing  that,  in  the  rest  of  his  reign,  his  passions 
were  under  a  better  direction.  He  discharged  the 
church,  where  it  lay  under  any  oppression  ;  he  ordered 
the  laws  for  tithes  to  be  strictly  put  in  execution ;  and 
was  remarkably  bountiful  to  the  see  of  Hereford.  He 
founded  a  monastery  at  Bath.  He  caused  a  search  to 
be  made  at  Verulam,  where,  under  the  ruins  of  an  old 
British  church,  formerly  erected  in  honour  of  St.  Alb  an, 
he  met  with  the  relics  of  that  saint's  body,  which  he 
inclosed  in  a  rich  shrine,  and,  in  the  year  794,  founded 
there  a  stately  monastery,  which  he  plentifully  endowed 
with  lands  and  royal  privileges.  Afterwards,  his  zeal 
carried  him  to  Rome,  where  he  paid  his  respects  to  pope 
Adrian,  and  settled  the  collection,  called  Peter-pence, 
upon  the  holy  see.  Then,  returning  into  his  own  country, 
he  died  soon  after. 

Egfert,  or  Egfred,  who  was  son  and  successor  to  king 
Oifa,  pursued  his  father's  good  design,  in  making  resti 
tution  to  the  church.  He  was  succeeded  by  Kenulph, 
who  may  be  compared  with  the  best  of  our  kings,  for 
integrity  of  life  and  public  abilities.  This  king  corres 
ponded  with  Pope  Leo  III,  about  restoring  the  liberties 
of  the  see  of  Canterbury,  and  sent  Athelard,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  to  Rome,  upon  that  affair.  Pope  Leo, 
after  a  full  hearing  of  the  case,  ordered,  that  Canterbury 
should  enjoy  its  ancient  privileges,  namely,  a  jurisdiction 
over  twelve  suffragans,  according  to  the  first  establish 
ment  under  Ethelbert,  king  of  Kent,  and  St.  Augustine, 
accordingly  as  they  had  been  directed  by  pope  Gregory 
the  Great.  At  the  same  time,  the  grant  of  pope  Adrian  I. 
to  king  Offa,  whereby  Litchfield  became  an  archiepiscopal 
see,  was  declared  surreptitious,  and  revoked.  King  Ke 
nulph  founded  the  monastery  of  Winchcombe,  and  died 
in  the  year  819.  The  last  of  the  Mercian  kings,  was 

E  2 


52  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

Bertulph.     He  was  driven  out  of  his  kingdom  by  the 
Danes,  and,  travelling  to  Rome,  ended  his  days  there.1 
Christianity  first  passed  to  the  South-Saxons  about 

1  661,  under  king  Ethelwold,  otherwise  called  Edil- 
walch,  who  was  baptized   at  that  time   by  Trumhere, 
bishop  of  the  Mercians,  Wulfhere,  king  of  Mercia,  assist 
ing  on  the  occasion  :  but  it  was  chiefly  by  the  preaching 
of  St.  Wilfrid,  the  banished  bishop  of  York,  that 

1  the  conversion  of  the  kingdom  was  effected ;  for 
Wilfrid,  being  expelled  out  of  his  diocese  of  York, 
retired  hither,  and,  having  the  island  of  Selsey,  near 
Chichester,  bestowed  upon  him  for  a  place  of  residence, 
he  founded  a  monastery  there,  and  afterwards  an  epis 
copal  see,  having  first  converted  all  the  inhabitants. 
He  remained  in  Selsey  about  five  years,  and  then  was 
replaced  in  his  see  at  York.  Sussex  and  Hampshire 
were  part  of  the  diocese  of  Winchester,  till  about  the 
year  711,  when  one  Eadb right,  abbot  of  Selsey,  is  found 
to  enjoy  the  title  of  bishop.  After  his  decease,  that  title 
was  sunk,  till  about  733,  when  we  read  of  other  bishops 
of  Selsey  ;  at  length,  in  William  the  Conqueror's  reign, 
the  see  was  fixed  at  Chichester.2 

I  am  now  brought  to  the  close  of  the  Saxon  heptarchy, 
and  have  finished  the  account  of  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
during  the  200  years,  that  passed  between  the  first  con 
version,  and  the  union  of  the  several  kingdoms  under 
one  monarch.  But  before  I  proceed  any  farther,  it  will 
not  be  unseasonable  to  pause  awhile,  and  contemplate 
the  wonders  of  divine  Providence*  in  the  foundation  and 
progress  of  Christianity  among  our  Saxori  ancestors, 
with  the  surprising  effects  of  grace  upon  their  minds, 
which  excited  them  so  generously  to  despise  all  that 
was  great  and  engaging,  to  embrace  the  humble  methods 
of  the  Gospel. 

"We  meet,"  says  the  protestant  historian,  Collier, 


1  Malmesbury,!.  1,  c.  4,  p.  30—33.  eel.  Savile.    M.  Paris,  in  vit.  Oflfe,  984— 
2  Bede,l.  4,  c.  13,  15;  1.  5,c.  19.     Eddius,  p.  72,  73. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  53 

"  with  several  English  princes,  that  have  taken  leave  of 
the  world  in  this  manner.  I  know  their  conduct  is 
censured  by  some  writers,  as  if  they  grew  chagrined,  by 
finding  their  ambition  crossed,  retired  to  cover  their 
defects,  and  screen  themselves  from  the  odium  of  mal 
administration.  I  shall  not  pretend  to  enter  upon  a 
disquisition  of  the  point  any  farther  than  to  observe, 
that  we  ought  to  be  very  favourable  in  our  conjectures 
upon  this  matter  ;  for  though,  probably,  it  might  have 
been  more  for  the  benefit  of  the  government,  if  they  had 
not  gone  off,  though  their  good  qualities  would  have 
made  them  extremely  valuable  upon  the  throne,  how 
ever,  we  must  grant  their  meaning  was  very  com 
mendable  in  retiring.  To  quit  a  life  of  pomp  and  power, 
to  exchange  the  pleasures  and  liberties  of  the  court, 
for  a  state  of  restraint  and  mortification ;  to  do  all  this, 
in  the  bloom  of  their  youth,  when  their  fortune  is  so 
well  established,  and  they  have  both  leisure  and  incli 
nation  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  their  birth,  can  pro 
ceed  from  nothing  but  a  predominancy  of  virtue  and 
conscience,  and  a  noble  disregard  of  secular  greatness  ; 
of  secular  greatness,  I  say,  in  competition  with  the 
glories  of  the  other  world.  Besides,  their  example  may 
be  serviceable  to  others  in  a  lower  station,  who,  though 
they  do  not  imitate  their  manner  in  every  circumstance, 
and  follow  them  to  a  cell ;  yet  the  force  of  such  royal 
precedents  may  refresh  the  idea  of  religion,  and  make 
them  more  solicitous  for  the  security  of  their  future 
state."1 

In  another  place  he  says,  "those,  who  did  not  conceive 
themselves  obliged  to  such  lengths  of  self-denial,  laid  out 
part  of  their  revenues  in  the  building  and  endowing  of 
churches,  in  founding  houses  for  learning  and  education, 
and  for  the  benefit  of  retirement  and  devotion. — If  these 
princes,  instead  of  assigning  part  of  their  fortune  to 
religious  uses,  had  invaded  the  altars,  squandered  away 
the  patrimony  of  the  church,  and  spent  the  conse 
crated  revenues  upon  their  vices,  their  case  would  have 

1  Eccl.  Hist.  i.  120. 


54  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

been  much  worse."1  And,  indeed,  it  must  be  the  highest 
flight  of  prejudice,  to  give  it  no  harsher  name,  thus  to 
arraign  and  depreciate  the  very  best  actions  Christians 
are  capable  of.  If  building  churches,  erecting  pious 
foundations,  and  relinquishing  all  in  this  life  for  the  sake 
of  the  other,  must  be  censured,  traduced,  and  ridiculed, 
Christianity  itself  has  but  a  very  feeble  prop  to  support 
it  against  infidelity  and  atheism.  The  poverty  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  will  come  under  the  same  censure,  and 
the  Gospel  may  be  represented  as  a  method  only  for 
indolence  and  laziness,  rather  than  for  becoming  happy 
in  a  future  life. 

Egbert  was  the  first  among  the  Saxons,  who  could 
pretend  to  an  universal  superiority  over  the  other  prin 
ces  of  the  heptarchy  ;  and  this  was  not  much  more  in 
his  reign,  than  that  he  had  made  them  tributary  to  him  : 
for  some  of  the  heptarchy  still  retained  the  title  of  kings.2 
Egbert  was  king  of  the  West-  Saxons,  and  having  learned 
the  art  of  war  from  Charles  the  Great,  while  he  was  in 
banishment  in  France,  he  returned  an  expert  soldier, 
and  riot  only  regained  his  own  crown,  but  brought  all 
the  others  under  subjection.  He  returned  from  France 
in  the  year  800,  some  few  years'  before  the  death  of  the 
learned  Alcuin,  who  died  in  804,  and  of  Charles  the 
Great,  who  died  in  814.  I  shall  take  no  notice  of  the 
warlike  performances  of  king  Egbert;  nor  can  much  be 
said  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  during  his  reign,  which  were 
very  much  at  a  stand,  upon  account  of  the  continual 
wars,  and  the  ravaging  Danes,  who  now  began  to  spread 
themselves  all  over  the  neighbouring  countries,  and, 
among  others,  very  much  infested  the  coasts  of  this 
island.  One  thing,  I  find,  is  taken  notice  of,  that  he 
gave  orders  to  have  the  English  school  at  Rome  rebuilt, 
which  had  formerly  been  founded  there  by  the  two 
kings,  Ina  and  Offa,  and  had  lately  been  destroyed  by 


Ibid,  p.  4.     To  the  reader. 

[The  truth  is,  that,  though  styled  by  Huntingdon  (345,  ed.  Savile)  "  Mo- 
ha  Britannia,"  Egbert  was  no  more  than  what  others  had  been  before  him, 
and  what  was  then  called  "  Bretwalda."—  T.~\ 


3 

iiarc 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  55 

fire.1     King  Egbert  died  in  the  year  836.     He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Ethelwulph,  whose  reign  was 
still  disturbed  by  the  Danes.     Yet  this  hindered  him 
not  from  performing  several  good  actions  wyorthy  of 
remembrance,  wherein  he  was  assisted  by  two   great 
prelates,   S within,  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Alstan, 
bishop  of  Sherbourn.     He  made  strict  laws  concerning 
the  duty  of  tithes;  and  the  school  at  Rome  being  burnt 
a  second  time,  about  the  year  847,  he  ordered  it  to  be 
repaired  again.     Towards  the  latter  end  of  his  reign, 
he  took  a  journey  to  Rome,  to  visit  pope  Leo  IV,  taking 
his  youngest  son,  Alfred,  along  with  him,  and  leaving  him 
there  for  the  sake  of  education.     How  much  this  young 
prince  profited  there,  appeared  afterwards,  when  he  came 
to  possess  the  throne.     Before  king  Ethelwulph 
died,  which  was  in  the  year  857?  he  made  his  will, 
and,  among  other  pious  legacies,  left  a  yearly  rent  of  1 00 
mancuses,  to  be  laid  out  in  oil,  for  the  use  of  St.  Peter's 
church  in  Rome ;  the  same  sum,  for  the  same  purpose, 
he  left  to  St.  Paul's,  as  also  100  mancuses  more  to  the 
bishop  of  Rome.     About  this  time,  flourished  Nennius^ 
the  British  historian,  whom  some  are  pleased  to  distin 
guish  by  the  name  of  a  second  Gildas.2 

After  Ethelwulph  reigned  Ethelbald,  whose  successor 
was  Ethelbert,  who  were  both  kept  in  full  employment 
by  the  Danes.  Nor  was  this  island  the  only  country 
that  suffered  by  these  barbarians  ;  for,  about  the  year 
850,  they  had  entered  into  Neustria,  afterwards  called 
Normandy,  and  not  long  after  got  a  settlement  there. 
The  next  monarch  of  this  island  was  Ethelred.  During  his 
time,  the  Danes  entered  far  into  the  country,  and  made 
desolation  wherever  they  came.  They  utterly  destroyed 
the  famous  abbies  of  Ely  and  Peterborough,  with  many 
others  taken  notice  of  by  our  historians.  At  length, 


1  [The  school  was  burnt  in  817 :  but  Anastasius  attributes  its  restoration,  not 
to  Egbert,  but  to  pope  Paschal.  "  Unde  postmodum  ter  beatissimus  pontifex... 
eorum  domicilia  sicut  ante  fuerant  restauravit."     In  Paschale,  apud  Baron. 
An.  823.— T.] 

2  Asser,  155—158.  ed.  Gale.  Malmesb.  38. 


56  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

Ethelred,  having  spirited  up  his  people,  attacked  the  in 
vaders,  defeated  them  in  an  obstinate  engagement,  and 
left  their  king,  with  a  number  of  his  chief  nobility,  dead 
upon  the  field.  It  is  reported  of  him,  that  he  came  oif 
victorious  in  nine  engagements  he  had  with  those  bar 
barians.1 

Alfred,  otherwise  called  Alured,  the  youngest  son 
2  of  king  Ethelwulph,  was  the  next  that  sat  at  the 
head  of  the  Saxon  monarchy,  which  he  took  possession 
of  in  the  year  872.  He  maintained  a  nine  years'  war 
with  the  Danes,  who  had  now  posted  themselves  in  the 
heart  of  the  kingdom.  By  degrees,  they  stript  him  in 
a  manner  of  all  his  dominions  ;  so  that  he  was  obliged 
to  retire  alone  into  a  small  island,  afterwards  called 
^Ethelingey,  or  Prince's  Island  ;  where,  as  the  writer  of 
his  life  reports,  St.  Cuthbert  appeared  to  him,  and  gave 
him  hopes  of  success,  if  he  would  attempt  to  recover  his 
country.  This  vision  encouraged  him  ;  he  rallied  his 
scattered  forces,  and,  in  a  little  time,  he  not  only  over 
came  the  Danes,  and  brought  them  to  terms,  but  per 
suaded  a  great  many  of  them  to  embrace  the  Christian 
religion  ;  and,  to  encourage  them  the  more,  he  suffered 
them  to  plant  themselves  among  the  East -Angles  and 
North  umbers.  Nay,  he  still  showed  them  greater  civili 
ties  :  some  of  the  chief  of  them  were  placed  over  the 
aforesaid  provinces,  in  quality  of  viceroys.  By  this 
means,  he  purchased  peace  to  the  whole  kingdom.  His 
next  labour  was,  to  see  a  good  regulation  established, 
and  kept  up,  both  in  civil  and  religious  matters.  He 
was  provided  with  persons  excellently  qualified  to  carry 
on  his  religious  designs ;  among  whom  those  of  greatest 
note  were,  Werfrith,  bishop  of  Worcester ;  Plegmund, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  ^Ethelstan  and  Werwulph, 
two  of  his  chaplains ;  Grimbald,  a  learned  monk ;  John,  a 
monk,  afterwards  abbot  of  iEthelingey,  who  w^as  mur 
dered,  whom  William  of  Malmesbury  erroneously  takes 

1  Asser,  155,  158,  163.  Ingulph,22  -  24.  [In  the  former  edition  of  this  work, 
the  destruction  of  Peterborough,  and  the  other  ravages  of  the  Danes,  were 
assigned  to  the  reigns  of  Ethelred's  two  predecessors.  I  have  transferred  them 
to  their  proper  place. — 71.] 


ART.  i.]  -SAXONS.  57 

to  be  Johannes  Scotus  Erigena ;  and  Asser,  almoner  to 
the  king,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Sherbourn.1  By  the 
assistance  of  these  learned  men,  the  king  did  not  only 
carry  on  the  aifairs  of  the  church  with  success,  but  also 
improved  himself  in  letters,  though  he  applied  himself 
late  ;  however,  he  became  so  much  master  of  the  Latin 
tongue,  as  to  be  able  to  translate  into  the  Saxon  lan 
guage,  the  history  of  Orosius,  St.  Gregory's  Pastoral, 
Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History,  and  Boetius  de  Consola- 
tione  Philosophies,  with  some  other  performances.  As 
to  his  economy  in  private  life,  he  was  very  regular  and 
constant.  He  divided  the  twenty-four  hours  into  three 
parts  ;  eight  whereof  he  employed  in  reading,  writing, 
and  praying;  eight  in  sleep,  nourishment,  and  other 
corporal  necessities ;  the  other  eight  in  public  aifairs. 
He  observed  the  same  method  in  regard  to  his  revenues, 
which  he  divided  into  three  portions,  wherein  the  poor, 
the  church,  and  the  expenses  of  his  family,  were  equally 
considered.  This  account  is  given  by  Asser,  who  was 
his  domestic  chaplain,  and  an  eye-witness ;  who  farther 
adds,  that  he  attended  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  every 
day,  was  accustomed  to  frequent  the  church  in  the 
night  time,  and  join  with  the  priests  and  monks  in 
their  public  prayers.2  Besides  the  good  laws,  which  re 
garded  civil  matters,  he.  made  others  to  support  the  dis 
cipline  of  the  church  ;  particularly,  those  that  violated 
the  precept  of  fasting,  in  Lent,  were  to  be  severely 
punished.  He  ordered  an  anniversary  feast  of  pope 
Gregory  to  be  solemnly  observed,  as  also  the  observation 
of  the  Ember-days,  called  Quatuor  Tempora.  Now,  as 
to  the  pious  foundations,  which  he  either  was  author  of, 
or  chiefly  instrumental  in,  I  will  mention  those  which 

1  [Usher  (in  Indice)  denies  that  Asser  was  bishop  of  Sherboum,  but  asserts 
that  he  was  archbishop  of  St.  David's.     He  is  contradicted,  however,  first,  by 
Asser  himself,  who,  speaking  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  David's,  calls  him  "  pro- 
pinquum  meum"  (De  rebus  gestis  jElfr.  p.  15);  and  secondly,  by  Alfred,  who, 
having  mentioned  Plegmund  as  his  "  ^Ercebiscope,"  immediately  adds,  "  act 
Assere  minon  Biscope."  Pref.  ad  Past.  Greg.  Mag,  p.  26. — T.~] 

2  Missam  quotidie  audire,  psalmos  quosdam  et  orationes,  et  horas  diurnas  et 
nocturnas  cclebrare,  et  ecclesias  nocturno  tempore  orandi  causa  clam  a  suis 
adire  solebat,  ct  frequentabat.     Asser,  in  vita  Alfred!,  13.  ed.  Camd. 


58  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

occur  to  me  at  present.  About  the  year  of  our  Lord 
879,  he  began  to  repair  the  monasteries  that  had  been 
endamaged  or  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  in  the  several 
incursions  they  had  made.  He  founded  the  three  mo 
nasteries  at  ^Ethelingey,  Wilton,  and  Shaftesbury,  the 
last  being  a  house  for  religious  women.  About  883,  he 
assembled  a  select  number  of  learned  men  at  Oxford, 
whom  he  employed  to  read  lectures  in  a  methodical 
way.  Here  the  university  of  Oxford  placeth  the  date 
of  its  foundation,  and  king  Alfred  is  looked  upon  as  the 
founder.  The  learned  men,  who  were  employed  upon 
this  occasion,  were,  Neot,  a  Briton,  from  Cornwall, 
Adolph,  a  Saxon,  Plegmund,  Johannes  Scotus  Erigena, 
an  Irishman,  invited  from  France,  Grimbald,  a  monk, 
from  St.  Bertin's  monastery  in  St.  Omers,  with  several 
others  ;  among  whom,  I  must  not  forget  Asser,  the 
bishop  of  Sherbourn,  and  the  author  both  of  the  Life  of 
Alfred,  and  of  the  Historical  Annals  which  bear  his 
name.1  I  have  nothing  more  to  add  relating  to  these 
times,  only  to  observe,  that,  when  several  episcopal  sees 
were  erected  under  archbishop  Plegmund,  in  the  West- 
Saxon  kingdom,  and  bishops  consecrated  for  that  purpose, 
there  were  some  that  came  out  of  Wales  to  be  ordained 
by  him,  as  others  had  been  soon  after  St.  Augustin's 
time  ;  which  is  a  proof,  that  there  was  a  constant 
communication,  notwithstanding  the  controversy  about 
Easter,  and  the  continual  wars  between  the  Britons  and 
Saxons  ;  for,  as  it  is  very  well  observed,  in  the  Preface 
to  John  Stow's  Chronicles,  "  In  all  this  controversy, 
the  religious  persons  on  either  part  agreed  in  the  full 
substance  of  faith,  and  administration  of  the  sacraments ; 
and  would  have  been  in  unity  and  amity,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  division  of  their  princes  in  their  temporal 
estates  and  affairs."2 


1  Asser,  de  Reb.  Gest.  yT'-lfr.  18—20.  Malmesb.  44,  45.  Harpsf.  ssec.  9,  c.  5. 

2  [The  sees,  erected  by  Plegmund,  were  those  of  Cornwall,  Wells,  and  Devon, 
which  had  hitherto  belonged  to  Winchester  and  Sherbourn  (Malmesb.  48). 
Richardson,  however,  in  his  notes  on  Godwin,  has  shown,  that  the  new  bishops 
could  not  have  been  consecrated  before  the  year  809,  or  810.     De  Prtesul.  209. 
See  also  Lingard,  Ang.  Sax.  Ch.  168,  note. — 7VJ 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  59 

Edward,  called  the  Senior,  son  to  king  Alfred, 
was  the  next  that  succeeded  to  the  throne.     In  his 
reign,  the  monarchy  was  more  closely  knit  together, 
the  tributary  viceroys  being  obliged  to  a  greater  depen 
dency.     Edward  was  a  prince  of  strict  justice,  and  made 
several  wholesome  laws,  in  conjunction  with  his  nobility 
and  clergy,  both  relating  to  temporal  and  spiritual  mat 
ters.     He  had  several  children,  among  whom,  three  of 
his  daughters  entered  into  a  monastic  state. 

Edward  was  succeeded  by  his  son  ^Ethelstan. 
He  was  a  powerful  prince,  and  brought  both  the  " 
Scots  and  Britons  to  such  terms,  as  to  pay  him  tribute. 
His  usual  saying  upon  that  occasion  was,  that  it  was 
more  glorious  to  make  kings,  than  to  be  a  king.  The 
Danes,  both  those  that  inhabited  in  England,  and  others 
from  abroad,  attempted  to  give  him  some  disturbance ; 
but  he  quickly  suppressed  the  one,  and  repelled  the 
other.  In  one  conspiracy  against  him,  a  certain  noble 
man,  called  Alfred,  was  said  to  be  concerned,  who 
offered  to  purge  himself,  by  oath,  before  pope  John  X, 
and  went  to  Rome  for  that  purpose.  The  oath  was 
administered  to  him,  before  the  altar  in  St.  Peter's 
church  ;  which  he  had  no  sooner  taken,  but  he  dropped 
down,  as  if  he  were  dead,  expiring  three  days  after. 
His  estate  and  effects  were  judged  to  the  king,  who 
bountifully  bestowed  a  great  part  of  them  upon  the 
monastery  at  Malmesbury.  The  foundation  of  three 
religious  houses  occurs  in  king  ^Ethelstan's  reign,  viz. 
Pilton  priory,  Middle  ton,  and  Mitchelney.  He  repaired 
several  monasteries  that  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Danes.  He  assisted  his  bishops  and  clergy,  who  met 
in  Concilio  Greatleyano,  where  several  good  regulations 
were  made ;  viz.  a  law  for  the  more  punctual  payment 
of  tithes ;  and  another,  whereby  bishops  were  em 
powered  to  sit  sometimes  in  courts  of  judicature,  to 
inspect  the  actions  of  the  civil  magistracy.1  He  died  in 


1  Debent  episcopi  cum  sseculi  judicibus  interesse  judiciis,  ne  permittant,  si 
possint,  utillinc  aliqua  piavitatum  germina  pullulaveriut.  Brompt.  845. 


60  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

the  year  940,  had  a  short  reign,  but  crowded  with 
merit.1 

Edmund  was  the  next  Saxon  monarch  after  his  bro- 
D  ther  ^Ethelstan.  He  copied  out  the  best  part  of  his 
predecessors'  lives,  and  was  successful  both  against  the 
rebellious  Northumbers,  and  the  Britons :  from  these 
last  he  wrested  five  strong  cities.  St.  Dunstan  was  his 
constant  adviser  in  all  spiritual  matters ;  for  whom  he 
founded  a  monastery,  and  placed  him  abbot.  Edred, 
brother  to  Edmund,  then  stepped  into  the  throne,  equal 
to  his  father  and  brethren,  in  all  desirable  qualifications. 
He  consulted  abbot  Dunstan  in  all  affairs  of  moment, 
both  spiritual  and  temporal ;  and  entertained  a  great 
regard  for  churchmen  in  general ; — a  feeling,  which,  in 
the  case  of  Wulstan,  archbishop  of  York,  who  had  con 
spired  against  his  throne,  induced  him  to  pardon  the 
offender,  after  an  imprisonment  of  only  a  few  months. 
Edred  survived  his  brother  Edmund  nine  years.  Ed 
mund  died  in  946,  Edred  in  955.2 

Edwy  was  son  of  Edmund,  and  successor  to  Edred  ; 

but  very  much  degenerated  from  his  predecessors, 
in  point  of  behaviour  and  integrity  of  life.  He  had  a 
strong  inclination  for  many  vices ;  but  the  love  of 
women  was  his  darling  passion,  which  he  pursued  to  the 
great  scandal  of  his  subjects.  An  instance  of  this  pro 
pensity  occurred  on  the  day  of  his  coronation  ;  and 
Dunstan,  with  one  of  the  bishops,  was  deputed  by  the 
assembled  nobles  to  remonstrate  with  him  on  the  im 
propriety  of  his  conduct.  The  result  was  such  as  might 
have  been  expected  :  the  king,  or  his  mistress,  was  en 
raged,  Dunstan  was  banished,  and  the  monks  in  general 
were  persecuted  upon  Dunstan's  account.  Some  of  our 
modern  writers  are  so  transported  with  partiality,  that 
they  represent  Dunstan  as  a  proud,  turbulent,  covetous 
prelate,  and  that  he  made  it  his  whole  business  to  en 
rich  the  monks  with  the  spoils  of  the  public,  and  that  he 

1  Malmesb.  47,  48,  50,  52. 

2  Huntingdon,  355,  ed.    Savilc.       Osbern,  apud  Angl.  Sac.  ii.  99—102. 
Malmes.  55,  269.     Hoved.  423. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS. 

was  banished  by  the  king  upon  those  accounts.  But 
the  reader  needs  only  consult  the  historians  of  those 
days,  to  be  convinced  of  the  contrary.1  However,  we 
are  told  that  king  Edwy  turned  off  his  mistresses,  and 
repented  before  his  death,  which  happened  in  the  year 
959.2 

Edgar  was  brother  to  Edwy,  andhis  successor  in  the 
royal  dignity.     He  was  the  honour  and  delight  of 
the  English  nation,  whose  days  were  spent  in  a  continual 
calm,  since  none  had  any  inclination  to  disturb  him  at 
home,  nor  durst  any  one  venture  to  attack  him  from 
abroad.     Matthew  Westminster  gives  us  almost  an  in 
credible  account  of  his  power  and  magnificence ;  that  he 
entertained  a  fleet  of  4800  ships,  and,  at  a  certain  time, 
was  rowed  upon  a  river  by  eight  petty  kings.3     But  I 
leave  the  relation  and  disquisition  of  such  matters  to 
others ;  my  purpose  is  to  take  notice  of  him,  only  as  a 
Christian,  and  patron  of  religion.     His  first  care  was,  to 
have  Dunstan  recalled  from  banishment,  whom  he  knew 
to  be  a  man  of  merit,  and  very  useful  upon  any  religious 
occasion.     He  himself,  at  his  first  setting  out,  gave  the 
world  a  convincing  proof  of  the  disinterested  zeal  of 
this  holy  man,  who,  though  he  had  promoted  him  to  the 
episcopal  dignity  (being  first  bishop  of  Worcester,  and 
afterwards  archbishop  of  Canterbury),  yet  this  consider 
ation  did  not  tie  him  up  from  reproaching  his  royal 
benefactor  with  the  wicked  fact  he  had  committed,  in 
keeping  a  mistress  whom  he  had  decoyed  out  of  a  mo 
nastery,  though  it  was  before  she  had  made  her  vows. 
The  king  was  so  far  from  resenting  the  advice  (as  his 
brother  Edwy  had  done  in  the  like  case),  that  he  fell 
down  upon  his  knees  before  his  pastor,  entered  into  a 


1  *'  Vir  totus  ex  virtu tibus  factus :"  St.  Dunstan's  character,  by  Eadmer, 
lib.  2.  Histor.  Novellorum,  in  principio. 

2  Osbern,  104 — 106.     [For  the  account  of  Edw}r's  conduct  on  the  day  of 
his  coronation,  and  the  real  cause  of  Dunstan's  banishment,  the  reader  cannot 
do  better  than  turn  to  the  narrative  of  Dr.  Lingard,  History  of  Eng.  i,  233, 
234,  543—548.     I  quote  from  the  4to.  edition.— T.] 

3  [Malmesbury,  Simeon,  and  Mailros,  make  the  number  of  ships  3600.     The 
probability  is,  as  Dr.  Lingard  has  observed,  that  even  from  that  amount  a  cypher 
should  be  retrenched.—!7.] 


62  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i, 

course  of  penance,  and,  by  the  sequel  of  his  life,  gave  a 
plain  demonstration  of  the  sincerity  of  his  heart.  The 
great  work  which  he  had  upon  his  hands  was,  jointly 
with  the  bishops,  to  restore  the  discipline  of  the  church, 
as  to  several  abuses,  which  had  reigned  a  long  time 
among  the  inferior  clergy,  who,  during  the  Danish  inva 
sions,  having  nobody  to  inspect  their  behaviour,  were 
grown  very  licentious ;  and  the  capital  abuse  many  of 
them  had  been  subject  to,  was,  that  of  having  taken 
wives,  contrary  to  the  canons  of  the  church.  The  per 
sons,  employed  by  the  king  to  reform  the  clergy  in  this 
point,  were  the  three  bishops,  Dunstan,  Oswald,  and 
Ethelwold,  who  had  all  been  bred  up  in  a  monastic  way. 
Now,  the  method  they  took,  w7as,  not  only  to  oblige  the 
married  clergy  and  canons  to  put  off  their  wives,  but 
even  to  turn  out  all  the  canons  from  many  of  the  chief 
cathedral  churches,  and  place  monks  in  their  room. 
The  first  point  was  thought  very  just  and  reasonable, 
but,  in  the  other,  the  clergy  looked  upon  themselves  to 
be  very  hardly  dealt  with ;  and  therefore  they  did  not 
only  oppose  that  newr  regulation,  but  several  of  the 
nobility  took  part  with  them,  appealing  to  the  original 
foundation  of  those  communities,  and  alleging,  that, 
though  a  reformation  of  particular  persons  was  com 
mendable,  yet  why  should  the  whole  suffer  for  the 
delinquency  of  a  part,  and  whole  bodies  be  deprived  of 
their  right  and  original  claim?  But  there  was  no 
room  to  dispute  matters  with  the  supreme  power.  The 
king  had  espoused  the  cause  of  the  monks  ;  so  the  new 
regulation  must  go  on.  It  is  true,  there  were  great 
abuses  among  the  clergy  in  those  days,  as  it  appears  by 
the  king's  speech  now  extant,  wherein  he  dilates  him 
self  upon  their  scandalous  behaviour.  The  speech  was 
made  in  a  synod  held  upon  this  occasion,  in  the  year 
969.  He  mentions  the  reigning  vices  they  were  sub 
ject  to,  and  the  necessity  there  was  of  a  reformation, 
and  that  the  refractory  party  ought  to  be  confined  within 
some  monastery ;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  he  puts  the 
bishops  in  mind,  that  they  had  slept  over  their  duty, 
and  not  taken  care  to  have  those  abuses  remedied  in 


AUT.  i.]  SAXONS.  63 

due  time.  Then  he  concludes,  that,  as  he  held  the 
sword  of  Constantine,  so  they  held  the  sword  of  Peter, 
and  therefore  they  ought  to  join  in  concert,  and  purge 
the  house  of  God.1  Several  other  synods  were  held 
under  this  religious  king,  wherein,  jointly  with  his 
bishops,  he  made  several  laws  relating  to  church  affairs  ; 
namely,  concerning  fasting,  confession,  celibacy  of  the 
clergy,  &c.  and,  among  other  things,  the  law  for  Peter- 
pence  was  confirmed,  and  enforced  with  severe  penal 
ties.  During  this  time,  all  hands  were  at  work,  in 
repairing  those  monasteries  that  had  been  destroyed  by 
the  Danes,  and  forty  religious  houses  are  said  to  have 
been  recovered,  and  put  in  a  good  state,  by  king  Edgar. 
Neither  were  others  backward  in  promoting  the  same 
cause.  In  the  year  961,  Tavistock  abbey  was  founded 
by  count  Ordgar ;  in  969,  Ramsey  abbey  was  founded  by 
count  Ailwin ;  and  about  979,  queen  Elfrida,  wife  to 
Edgar,  laid  the  foundation  of  two  monasteries,  one  at 
Warwel,  the  other  at  Ambresbury.  King  Edgar 
died  in  the  year  975.  Besides  his  legitimate  chil 
dren,  he  left  a  daughter  by  Wilfrida,  the  young  lady  he 
took  out  of  a  monastery.  This  daughter  was  called 
Editha,  who  proved  to  be  a  lady  of  remarkable  virtue, 
which  took  off  from  the  blemish  of  her  birth.2 

Edward,  styled  the  Martyr,  succeeded  his  father,  king 
Edgar.  His  stepmother,  Elfreda,  laboured  hard  to  dis 
appoint  him  of  the  crown,  in  favour  of  her  own  son, 
Ethelred  ;  which  not  being  able  to  effect,  she  never  was 
at  rest  till  she  had  placed  him  upon  the  throne  ;  which 
at  last  was  done,  by  causing  Edward  to  be  assassinated. 
The  voice  of  the  people  made  him  a  martyr,  according 
to  the  style  of  those  days.  In  king  Edward's  reign, 
the  clergy,  ejected  out  of  their  churches  in  the  late 


1  Ego  Constantini,  vos  Petri  gladium  habetis  in  manibus:  jungamus  dexteras 
&c.     Jilredus  in  Genealog.  Reg.  Angl.  apud  Twysden,  362.     [This  speech, 
however,  was  probably  composed  by  one  of  the  monks. — T.~\ 

2  Malmesb.   60;  Osbern,  107,  111;   Eadmer,  apud  Ang.  Sacr.  200,218; 
Ingulph,  45,  47;  Westm.  191,  192;  Spelman,  Cone.  447;  Dugd.  Monast.  i. 
191,  231.     [For  an  interesting  account  of  the  clerical  and  other  reforms,  intro 
duced  during  the  present  reign,  the  reader  should  consult  Dr.  Lingard's  Anti 
quities  of  the  Aug.  Sax.  Church,  408—421,  425— 428.— 7YJ 


64  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

reign,  began  to  renew  their  complaints.  They  insisted, 
that  they  lay  under  a  manifest  oppression  from  their 
adversaries,  who,  upon  a  pretence  of  zeal,  were  work 
ing  their  ends,  more  to  satisfy  their  avarice  and  ambi 
tion,  than  for  God's  honour;  that  it  was  contrary  to  the 
law  of  God,  law  of  nations,  and  common  honesty,  to  be 
deprived  in  the  manner  they  were,  of  what  they,  in 
some  measure,  might  call  their  birth-right.  These  ar 
guments  appeared  so  popular,  that  a  great  part  of  the 
nobility  made  another  push  to  have  them  replaced.  At 
length,  two  synods  were  called,  to  put  an  end  to  this 
grand  debate  ;  one  was  held  at  Winchester,  the  other  at 
Calne,  where  the  monks  gained  their  point.  Our  his 
torians  report,  that  twro  remarkable  miracles  pleaded 
for  the  monks ;  that,  at  Winchester,  an  image  spoke, 
and  declared  against  the  clergy,  in  the  hearing  of  the 
synod ;  that,  at  Calne,  the  apartment  falling  down,  many 
of  the  clergy,  with  their  adherents,  were  crushed  to 
death;  whereas  Dunstan  and  his  followers  remained 
without  any  harm.  It  is  observed  by  some  of  our  his 
torians,  that,  in  this  king's  reign,  several  British  bishops 
were  ordained  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  two 
whereof  were  bishops  of  Landaif,  the  one  named  Gucan, 
or  Gogwan,  the  other  Bledri.  This,  more  or  less,  had 
been  a  custom  almost  from  St.  Augustin's  days ;  which 
is  a  proof  that  there  was  no  breach  between  the  two  na 
tions  in  religious  matters,  or  that  the  Britons  rejected 
the  metropolitic  power  of  the  see  of  Canterbury.1 

Upon  the  death  of  Edward,  his  brother,  Ethelred, 
succeeded.  His  ill-management  ruined  the  Saxon 
monarchy,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  Danes  and 
Normans,  who  soon  after  became  sole  masters  of  the 
kingdom.  The  Danes  had  threatened  him,  for  some 
time,  and,  in  the  year  1001,  they  actually  invaded  his 
dominions ;  who,  being  an  indolent  prince,  rather  than 
risk  the  cause  by  a  tedious  war,  came  to  terms,  and 


1  Osbern,  112;  Eadmer,  219,  220;  Malmesh.  61.  [On  the  catastrophe  at 
Calne,  and  the  supposed  miracle  of  the  crucifix  speaking  at  Winchester,  see 
Lingard,  Aug.  Sax.  Ch.  430,  431,  and  Hist,  of  Eng.  i.  250.— T.] 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  65 

obliged  his  subjects  to  pay  an  annual  tribute,  which  was 
raised  by  way  of  tax,  from  which,  notwithstanding,  the 
church  was  exempted.     This  inglorious  treaty  was  far 
from  being  pleasing  to  the  people  ;  nor  was  the  king 
himself  content  with  it,  it  being  a  force  upon  him ; 
wherefore,  he  studied  to  take  revenge  of  the  Danes,  that 
were  his  subjects,  and  who,  for  many  years,  had  been 
naturalized,  and  incorporated  with  the  rest  of  his  peo 
ple,  whom  he  caused  to  be  butchered  all  over  the  king 
dom,  on  St.  Brice's  day  (November  13),  in  the  year 
1002.     This  piece  of  barbarity  not  only  made  the  king 
odious  to  the  Danes  abroad,  but  even  to  his  own  sub 
jects.   When  Sweno,  king  of  Denmark,  was  informed  of 
these  proceedings,  he  judged  it  to  be  a  sufficient  provo 
cation  to  begin  a  war,  and  attack  England  ;  which  he 
did  with  a  formidable  army,  and  by  degrees  drove  Ethel- 
red  out  of  the  kingdom  ;  who  retired  into  Normandy 
in  the  year  1013,  taking  along  with  him  his  queen, 
Emma,  sister  to  duke  William,  with  her  two  sons,  Ed 
ward  and  Alfred.     During   this  war,   England  was  a 
scene  of  misery ;  king  Sweno  and  his  merciless  army 
plundering  and  destroying  all  places,  without  distinc 
tion  ;  especially,  the  city  of  Canterbury  suffered  very 
much  by  them.     They  besieged  it,  and  burnt  it,  in  the 
year  101 1,  at  which  time,  Elphege  was  archbishop,1  whom 
they  first  cast  into  prison,  then  offered  him  his  life  and 
liberty,  upon  paying  down  a  sum  of  money.     He  told 
them,  their  demand  was  so  extravagant,  that  it  was  im 
possible  for  him  to  procure  such  an  immense  sum.     His 
friends  advised  him  to  dispose  of  the  plate  and  treasury 
of  his  church,  to  raise  the  money ;  but  this  he  refused, 
alleging,  that  nothing  but  the  necessities  of  the  poor 
could  justify  what  they  advised  him  to.     Upon  this,  the 
barbarians,  having  first  tortured  him  very  severely,  cut 
off  his  head,  April  19,  1012.     From  this  prelate,  the 
sixth  in  succession  was  Lanfranc,  who  was  consecrated 


1  Vir  certe  praeclarus,  et  ob  plurimos  animi  dotes,  pracipue  vero  raorum 
vitaeque  sanctitatem,  nunquam  satis  laudatum. — Godwin,  de  Praesul.  in  vita 
Elpheg.  p.  54. 

VOL.  T.  F 


66  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

in  the  year  1070.  The  people  always  had  regarded 
Elphege  as  a  martyr ;  butLanfranc  demurred  concerning 
that  point,  till  his  scruple  was  removed  by  Anselm,  who 
wrote  to  him  from  Normandy  upon  the  subject.  An 
selm  alleged,  that  he  suffered  death  because  he  would 
not  deliver  up  the  goods  of  the  church ;  which  was  the 
case  of  St.  Laurence.  Some  of  our  historians  report,  that 
king  Sweno  was  taken  off  by  the  hands  of  king  Ed 
mund,  whom  the  Danes  had,  some  years  before,  murdered, 
this  holy  king  appearing  to  him,  and  putting  an  end  to 
his  miserable  life,  in  the  year  1014.  Upon  his  decease, 
his  son,  Canute,  pursued  the  conquest.  To  oppose  him, 
the  Saxon  nobility  called  over  Ethelred  from  Normandy, 
who  made  a  stand  till  1016,  when  he  died,  and  left 
his  son  Edmund,  named  Ironside,  to  carry  on  the 
war  ;  which  he  did  with  singular  bravery,  the  Saxons 
having  now  recovered  their  spirits  ;  and  might  have  en 
tirely  driven  out  Canute,  if  his  chief  general,  Edric,  had 
not  revolted  to  the  Danes.  However,  he  came  to  terms 
with  Canute,  and  the  agreement  was,  to  divide  the 
kingdom,  and  the  survivor  to  possess  the  whole.  Soon 
after,  the  traitor  Edric,  Count  of  Shrewsbury,  thinking 
to  ingratiate  himself  with  Canute,  is  said  to  have  mur 
dered  king  Edmund ;  by  which  means  Canute  reigned 
solely.  In  the  reign  of  king  Ethelred,  the  abbey  of 
Burton  was  founded  by  Wilfric  Spot ;  and,  in  the  same 
reign,  the  see  of  Lindisfarne,  or  Holy  Island,  was  re 
moved  to  Durham,  where  bishop  Aldwin  built  a  church, 
in  or  about  the  year  995. l 

Canute  began  his  reign  in  1017  ;  a  prince  of  very 
desirable  qualifications,  who,  though  he  obtained 
the  kingdom  against  law,  yet  governed  it  by  law.  He 
very  politically  married  Emma,  king  Ethelred's  relict ; 
by  which  means,  he  managed  a  reserve  both  with  the 
Normans  and  English.  The  first  became  less  solicitous 
about  restoring  the  old  branch,  in  hopes  that  Emma,  one 
of  their  own  blood,  might  have  an  heir  by  Canute,  to 

1  Flor.  611,618.    Malmesb.  64.    Hunting.  360.   Westm.  200, 202.    Osbern, 
135—141 .     Harpsf.  soec.  xi.  c.  9.     Annal.  Burt.  246.    Aug.  Sac.  i,  701. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  67 

inherit  the  crown  ;  the  latter  were  well  pleased  to  see 
their  old  queen  replaced  in  the  throne.  Again,  he  was 
a  complaisant  conqueror,  equally  employing  the  English 
and  Danes  in  all  places  of  trust.  He  was  particularly 
obliging  to  the  clergy  and  religious,  ordering  their 
churches  and  houses  to  be  repaired,  which  had  suffered 
extremely  by  his  father's  and  his  depredations.  And 
among  works  of  piety,  he  founded  a  noble  monastery  at 
St.  Edmundsbury,  in  1 020,  in  memory  of  King  Edmund, 
who  lost  his  life  there  by  the  cruelty  of  his  Danish 
ancestors.  He  founded  another  monastery  at  Holme. 
The  respect  he  showed  to  Elphege's  memory,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  who  was  murdered  by  the  Danes,  was 
very  pleasing  to  the  English ;  he  ordered  his  body  to  be 
translated  with  great  ceremony  from  London  to  Canter 
bury,  in  the  year  1023.  In  the  year  1031,  he  complied 
with  a  vow  he  had  made  of  visiting  Rome,  where  he 
made  very  noble  oiferings  to  the  holy  see,  in  honour  of 
St.  Peter.  He  was  kindly  received  there  by  pope  John, 
and  the  emperor  Conrad,  who  obliged  him  with  certain 
privileges,  and  exemptions  from  taxes,  which  were 
usually  paid  by  strangers  that  travelled  to  Rome,  but, 
for  the  future,  should  not  be  demanded  either  from  the 
Danes  or  the  English.  He  had,  in  this  journey,  several 
grievances  redressed,  concerning  the  pall  that  usually 
was  sent  to  the  archbishops,  on  which  occasion,  the 
pope's  officers  had  been  too  exorbitant  in  their  fees.1 
During  his  reign,  we  meet  with  a  great  many  ecclesias 
tical  laws,  made  by  the  joint  consent  of  the  king  and  his 
clergy ;  among  which,  some  prescribe  tithes,  first-fruits, 
Peter-pence,  &c. ;  others  forbid  trafficking  and  hunting 
upon  Sundays,  restrain  marriage  within  the  sixth  degree, 
and  order  parish  dues  for  funerals  to  be  paid  upon  the  spot. 
One  passage  I  must  not  omit,  concerning  king  Canute, 
because  it  carries  a  good  moral,  and  is  very  instructive. 
It  is  reported  of  him,  that  he  caused  a  throne  to  be  placed 

1  [Of  the  object  and  issue  of  this  journey  Canute  himself  has  left  us  an  interest 
ing  description,  in  a  letter  which  has  been  preserved  by  Ingulph  (59),  Florence 
(620),  and  Malmesbury  (74).  A  translation  of  it  may  be  seen  in  Lingard,  Hist. 
Eng.  i.  285 -287.— 71.] 

F  2 


68  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

on  the  sea-shore,  within  the  flood-mark,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  placed  himself  upon  it,  and  seemingly  com 
manded  the  waves  not  to  come  near,  or  incommode  him. 
As  the  waves  came  rolling  towards  him,  he  cried  out, 
"  Oh !  how  vain  is  the  power  of  kings  !  No  one  is 
worthy  of  that  name,  only  he  whom  the  earth,  hea 
vens,  and  sea,  are  obliged  to  obey."  Afterwards,  he 
never  would  wear  his  crown  of  gold,  but  ordered  it  to 
be  placed  upon  an  image  of  Christ  crucified.  This  great 
king  died  on  the  twelfth  day  of  November,  in  the  year 

of  our  Lord  1035,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  na- 
!5  tural  son,  Harold,  who  was  acknowledged  king, 
indeed,  but  neither  with  the  good-will,  nor  to  the  liking, 
of  any  of  his  subjects,  Danes  or  English.  Alfred,  son 
to  king  Ethelred,  made  an  attempt  to  recover  his  right, 
in  1036 ;  but  he  was  betrayed  and  given  up  by  duke 
Godwin,  was  dragged  to  the  isle  of  Ely,  and,  having 
been  deprived  of  his  eyes,  died  a  few  days  after.  King 
Harold  also  banished  queen  Emma,  and  died  in  the  year 
1040.  He  was  succeeded  by  Hardecnute,  who  reigned 
only  two  years,  dying  in  1042.1 

Edward,  styled  the  Confessor,  son  of  king  Ethel- 
2  red  and  queen  Emma,  succeeded  Hardecnute,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  put  an  end  to  the  Danish  succession. 
All  historians  in  general  give  a  good  character  of  him, 
both  as  to  virtue,  which  he  was  provided  with  to  an 
eminent  degree,  and  all  other  good  qualities,  required  to 
make  a  nation  happy  as  to  government.  And  yet  Wil 
liam  of  Malmesbury  describes  him  in  such  a  manner,  as 
if  he  were  a  person  of  no  extraordinary  natural  parts, 
which,  he  says,  upon  all  occasions,  were  abundantly 
supplied  by  supernatural  gifts,  which  answered  all 
purposes,  both  in  a  civil  and  religious  way.  Hence, 
he  says,  he  was  loved  and  feared,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  merely  upon  account  of  his  virtue,  and  because 
heaven  visibly  appeared  in  his  interest,  in  all  his  under 
takings.2  However,  as  good  men  are  mostly  subject 

1  Malmesb.  73,  74.     Brompton,  918—932.     Hunting.  364. 

2  Vir  propter  morum  simplicitatem  parum  imperio  idoneus,  sed  Deo  devotus, 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  69 

to  be  misled  in  point  of  politics  (a  misfortune  which 
attends  pious  credulity),  so  king  Edward  was  too  much 
influenced,  for  awhile,  by  the  subtle  and  powerful  God 
win,  earl  of  Kent,  and  by  Robert,  archbishop  of  Canter 
bury.  He  had  married  Editha,  the  earl's  sister,  and 
the  archbishop  had  been  his  intimate  acquaintance,  when 
he  lived  in  banishment  in  Normandy.  They  persuaded 
him  to  strip  his  mother,  Emma,  of  all  her  substance  ;  and 
afterwards,  upon  an  accusation  of  a  criminal  corres 
pondence  with  Alwyn,  bishop  of  Winchester,  she  was 
obliged  to  clear  her  reputation,  by  walking  over  red-hot 
plough-shares,  called  the  Ordeal  Trial.1  The  archbishop 
was  also  the  person  that  was  chiefly  instrumental  in 
having  the  crown  settled  upon  William,  Duke  of  Nor 
mandy.  As  William  of  Malmesbury  gives  but  an  indif 
ferent  character  of  king  Edward's  natural  parts,  so  he 
takes  the  same  liberty  both  with  him  and  queen  Editha, 
in  other  respects ;  for  though  he  owns  they  lived  toge 
ther  without  knowing  one  another,  yet  he  will  not 
determine  whether  this  instance  of  continency  was  an 
eifect  of  religion,  or  of  the  aversion  the  king  had  to  his 
wife's  family  ;2  whereas  other  historians,  especially 
Ailred,  who  was  in  the  secret  of  Edward's  life,  positively 
affirm,  it  was  an  effect  of  religious  zeal  in  them  both.3 
Besides,  such  a  behaviour  of  the  king's,  upon  a  motive 
of  aversion,  is  not  reconcileable  with  the  character 
Malmesbury  otherwise  gives  of  him,  nor,  indeed,  with 
the  common  duties  of  a  married  state.  As  to  the  pious 


ideoque  ab  eo  directus.  Eo  regnante,  nullus  tumultus  domesticus,  qui  non 
cito  comprimeretur,  nullum  bellum  forinsecus,  omnia  domi  forisque  quieta, 
omnia  tranquilla. — Erat  interea  ejus  apud  domesticos  reverentia  vehemens, 
apud  exteros  metus  ingens.  Fovebat  profecto  ejus  simplicitatem  Deus,  ut 
posset  timeri,  quo  nesciret  irasci. — Malmesb.  79. 

1  [This  story,  though  told  by  Brompton  (942),  was  unknown  to  the  older 
historians. — T.~\ 

2  Nuptam  sibi  rex  hac  arte  tractabat,  ut  nee  toro  amoveret,  nee  virili  more 
cognosceret.  Quod  an  familise  illius  odio,  quod  prudenter  pro  tempore  dissimula- 
bat,  an  amore  castitatis  fecerit,  pro  certo  compertum  non  habeo.  Malmes.  8G 

3  Convenientibus  in  unum  rex  et  regina  de  castitate  servanda  pasciseuntur, 
nee  huic  fidei  alium  quam  deum  testem  aestimant  adhibendum.  Fit  ilia  conjux 
mente,  non  carne ;  ille  nomine  maritus,  non  opere.     Perseverat  inter  eos  sine 
actu  conjugalis  affeetus. — Ailredus  in  Vita  S.  Eduardi,  apud  Dee.  Script,  p.  378. 


70  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

foundations  of  this  king's  reign,  and  the  miracles  that 
were  wrought  by  him,  we  have  a  sufficient  account  of 
them  from  Ailred,  the  writer  of  his  life,  and  other  Saxon 
historians,  who  all  agree  with  him.  King  Edward 
having  formerly  made  a  vow  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to 
Rome,  he  was  dispensed  with  by  pope  Leo  IX,  who 
ordered  him,  by  way  of  commutation,  to  give  large 
alms,  which  he  punctually  complied  with  ;  and,  that  he 
might  not  fall  short  in  the  obligation,  rebuilt  the  old 
church  at  Westminster,  where  he  founded  a  noble  mo 
nastery,  which  he  richly  endowed,  and,  at  his  request, 
pope  Nicholas  II  made  it  exempt  from  episcopal  jurisdic 
tion.  In  his  reign  was  founded  the  famous  monastery 
of  Coventry,  about  1043,  by  Leofrick,  count  of  Mer- 
cia,  and  his  lady,  Godiva,  who  restored  and  enriched 
many  other  religious  establishments.  In  1058,  the 
church  and  monastery  of  Gloucester  were  built  and  de 
dicated  by  Aldred,  bishop  of  Worcester  :  and  again, 
Waltham  Abbey,  about  1062,  was  founded  by  count 
Harold.  In  king  Edward's  reign,  the  sees  of  St.  Ger 
man's  and  Crediton  were  removed  to  Exeter,  of  which 
place  one  Leofrick  became  the  first  bishop.1  It  would 
be  an  endless  work  to  enter  upon  a  detail  of  the  miracles 
that  are  ascribed  to  this  holy  king.  I  shall  only  mention 
that  remarkable  one  of  curing  the  king's-evil.  "  From 
him,"  says  Collier,  "  it  has  descended,  as  an  hereditary 
miracle,  upon  all  his  successors.  To  dispute  the  matter 
of  fact,  is  to  go  to  the  excesses  of  scepticism,  to  deny 
our  senses,  and  be  incredulous  even  to  ridiculousness."2 
Some  reckon  it  a  flaw  in  this  king's  life,  that  he  altered 
the  succession,  and,  by  will,  put  by  the  next  in  blood,  in 
favour  of  William,  duke  of  Normandy.  But  I  leave  the 
discussion  of  this  matter  to  politicians.  As  to  the  fact 
itself,  some  of  our  historians  tell  us,  that  king  Edward, 
sometime  before  his  death,  did  send  into  Hungary,  to 
call  over  Edwrard,  surnamed  the  Outlaw,  his  nephew, 
who  was  next  heir,  as  being  son  to  Edmund  Ironside ; 

1  Ailred,  379—388 ;  Ingulph,  57 ;  Hoved.  444 ;  Godwin,  de  Prasul.  in  Episc, 
Exon. 

2  Eccl.  Hist.  i.  226. 


ART.  i.]  SAXONS.  71 

but,  by  some  way  or  other,  nothing  was  effected.  Edgar 
Atheling,  son  of  the  outlawed  Edward,  met  with  the 
same  disappointment ;  for,  though  he  put  in  his  claim, 
and  made  some  attempt  towards  recovering  it,  yet 
matters  were  so  compromised,  that  he  sat  down  pretty 
quiet.  King  Edward,  the  Confessor,  dying  in  1066, 
Harold,  son  of  earl  Godwin,  usurped  the  crown,  and 
held  it  for  some  months  ;  upon  which,  William,  duke 
of  Normandy,  prepared  a  powerful  fleet  and  army  to 
invade  the  kingdom,  which  he  claimed  by  virtue  of  king 
Edward's  last  will.  And,  to  put  a  gloss  upon  his  preten 
sions,  he  draws  up  his  case,  and  sends  it  to  Rome  to 
pope  Alexander  II,  who,  approving  of  it,  sent  the  duke 
a  blessed  banner  by  way  of  confirmation.  The  success 
of  this  enterprise  was  the  conquest  of  England  by 
duke  William,  in  the  year  1066. l 

Having  brought  my  account  of  church  affairs  thus  far, 
before  I  proceed  to  relate  the  occurrences  under  the 
Norman  race,  it  will  not  be  improper  to  observe,  that 
religion  and  civil  government  commonly  meet  with  the 
same  fate  in  every  age  ;  and  that  the  former  could  not 
subsist,  without  the  basis  of  the  latter  to  stand  upon  and 
support  it.2  By  virtue  of  this  correspondence,  a  decay  or 
increase  of  zeal  for  religion  was  discoverable  in  every 
reign,  accordingly  as  Providence  thought  fit  to  smile  or 
frown  upon  human  projects,  in  carrying  on  politic  matters. 
While  the  Britons  lived  under  discipline,  they  gave  the 
world  many  proofs  of  their  religious  zeal ;  but  the  violent 
attachment  they  had  to  their  freehold  introduced  stran 
gers,  and  these,  getting  a  head,  banished  religion.  The 
Saxons,  becoming  Christians,  erected  churches  and  mo 
nasteries  in  every  corner  of  the  kingdom  ;  which  were 
demolished  and  rebuilt,  as  their  crimes  or  repentance 
called  for  a  different  treatment  from  the  hands  of  divine 
Providence.  It  is  a  secret  I  shall  not  pry  into,  whether 


1  Ailred,  366;  Malmesb.  99,  100. 

2  [Of  this  theory  the  religion  of  Ireland*  which  has  continued  to  exist  in 
defiance  of  the  civil  power,  offers  a  sufficient  refutation.     That  the  Deity  has 
sometimes  punished  the  crimes  of  nations  by  depriving  them  of  his  presence,  is 
no  proof  that  religion  necessarily  depends  on  the  protection  of  the  state. —  TJ\ 


72  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

the  revolution  under  the  Normans  was  a  punishment  or 
a  blessing ;  many  there  are  who  judge  it  to  have  been  a 
punishment,  and  that  a  foundation  was  then  laid,  des 
tructive  both  of  civil  and  religious  liberties.  It  was 
then  the  church  and  the  state  began  to  struggle  for 
power,  and  make  reprisals  on  one  another,  accordingly 
as  they  had  the  game  in  their  hands  ;  but,  for  the  most 
part,  the  politician  had  the  advantage  of  the  Christian. 
Princes  courted  the  church,  if  they  were  likely  to  be 
gainers  by  an  obsequious  behaviour ;  and  very  often 
churchmen  wanted  not  motives  to  betray  their  trust, 
and  go  all  the  lengths  of  the  crown.  But,  as  Providence 
drags  the  unfortunate  on  to  ruin,  by  slow  and  almost 
imperceptible  paces ;  so,  notwithstanding  the  frequent 
quarrels  between  the  two  powers,  civil  and  ecclesiastic, 
they  never  came  to  an  open  rupture,  till  they  were 
nearer  disposed  for  it  by  the  enormity  and  multitude  of 
their  sins.  But  to  proceed  to  the  reign  of  William  the 
Conqueror. 

William,  duke  of  Normandy,  had  conquest,  and  king 
Edward's  appointment,  to  allege  in  favour  of  his  claim 
to  the  crown  of  England.1  How  far  such  claims  will 
stand  good,  I  leave  it  to  others  to  discuss  the  point ;  I 
shall  only  observe,  that  both  nations  seemed  disposed 
for  that  revolution  which  Providence  was  going  to  bring 
about.  The  English,  through  the  many  miseries  they 
had  undergone  under  several  changes,  were  become  in 
dolent  and  dispirited,  and  unfit  for  war ;  and  the  late 
peaceful  reign  of  Edward,  the  Confessor,  had  added  to 
their  incapacity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Normans  are 
described  by  William  of  Malmesbury,  to  be  a  people 
thoroughly  qualified  for  conqiiest  and  superiority.  They 
were  a  polite  and  learned  nation,  well  skilled  in  arms, 
and  politics  ;  a  people  so  inured  to  war,  that  they  scarce 
knew  how  to  live  in  time  of  peace ;  so  presumptuous  of 
success,  that  where  they  wanted  strength,  they  seldom 
failed  of  carrying  their  point  by  bribery  or  treachery. 

1  [The  fact  of  Edward's  appointment,  however,  though  asserted  by  Jngulph 
(68),  is  extremely  doubtful.  See  Lingard  i.  320,  note.— T.~\ 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  73 

They  were  frugal  and  good  economists,  yet  sumptuous 
both  in  their  buildings,  dress,  and  entertainments.  The 
subject  was  carefully  protected  against  foreign  invaders ; 
but  paid  dear  for  the  benefit  of  safeguard,  by  being 
stript  at  pleasure.  In  private  life,  the  Normans  were 
litigious,  trusty  servants,  but  quickly  affronted  when 
suspected.  In  all  nations,  money  gives  a  turn  to  the 
scales,  but,  with  them,  it  brought  them  quite  down  in 
opposition  to  their  opinion  or  engagement ;  in  a  word, 
nothing  was  accounted  treachery  which  was  crowned 
with  success.1  Into  these  hands  did  England  fall,  when 
William  the  Conqueror  had  the  crown  put  upon  his 
head ;  which  ceremony  was  performed  by  Aldred,  arch 
bishop  of  York,  the  conqueror  refusing  to  accept  of 
Stigand,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  whose  office  it  was. 
This  prelate  was  not  in  favour  either  with  the  see  of 
Rome,  or  the  king.  He  had  incurred  the  pope's  dis 
pleasure  in  the  late  reign,  for  which  the  pall  was  refused 
him  ;  and  the  warmth  and  subtilty  he  showed,  in  oppos 
ing  the  king,  was  a  sufficient  reason  to  be  neglected,  and 
afterwards  to  be  deprived  of  his  see,  which  was  filled  by 
Lanfranc,  abbot  of  a  monastery  in  Normandy,  whom 
the  king  sent  for,  upon  Stigand's  deprivation.2  Several 
others  of  the  ecclesiastics,  besides  Stigand,  were  enemies 
to  this  revolution ;  but  their  power  was  not  equal  to 
their  will.  Yet  we  read  of  one  Egelwin,  who,  at  that 
time,  was  bishop  of  Durham:  he  made  some  resistance; 
and  being  taken,  was  afterwards  imprisoned  and  de 
prived.  His  see  was  filled  by  Walter,  or  Walcher,  born 
in  Lorraine, who  was  entirely  in  the  conqueror's  interest ; 

1  Gens  militise  assueta,  et  sine  bello  pene  vivere  nescia,  et  in  hostem  impigre 
occurrere;  et  ubi  vires  non  successerint,  non  minus  dolo  et  pecunia  corrumpere. 
— Dominis  fideles,  moxque  levi  offensa  inficleles.  Cum  fato  ponderare  perfidiam, 
cum  nummo  mutare  sententiam. — Malmesb.  102. 

2  [The  authorities  cited  by  Dr.  Lingard  (i.  385,  note)  shew  that  Stigand's 
opposition  to  William  is  the  fiction  of  modern  historians.     The  truth  is,  he  was 
a  prelate  wholly  destitute  of  the  virtues  becoming  his  profession.     Originally  an 
intruder  in  the  see  of  Canterbury,  he  was  afterwards  suspended  by  pope  Alex 
ander  II,  from  the  exercise  of  the  episcopal  functions,  and  was  ultimately  de 
prived   for  his  rapacious  and  uncanonical    proceedings.     Walsing.  438,  ed. 
Camden;  Ang.  Sac.i.  250.— T.] 


74  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

and,  upon  that  account,  the  temporalities  of  Durham 
became  hugely  increased,  especially  after  Walter  had 
purchased  the  earldom  of  Northumberland,  which  title 
the  incumbent  of  Durham  enjoyed  for  some  time.1  Had 
this  king  behaved  himself  with  that  moderation  and  com 
plaisance  which  he  might  have  learnt  from  the  Danish 
conqueror,  Canute,  our  historians  might  have  been  able 
to  have  given  a  more  agreeable  account  of  him.  But, 
on  the  contrary,  they  tell  us,  that,  in  many  instances, 
he  had  no  regard  to  the  liberties  either  of  the  people  in 
general,  or  of  private  property.  The  English  groaned 
under  a  slavish  subjection  to  the  Normans ;  and,  to  know 
how  far  the  king  might  proceed  in  the  way  of  oppression, 
the  real  and  personal  substance  of  every  subject  was 
valued,  and  recorded  in  Doomsday-book.2  In  time  of 
war  (to  which  he  had  been  bred  up  from  his  youth),  he 
showed  very  little  respect  to  religion;  both  churches 
and  churchmen  felt  the  fury  of  his  martial  genius.  Nay, 
even  in  cold  blood,  and  in  time  of  peace,  he  demolished 
many  parishes  and  religious  houses,  to  take  in  a  forest, 
and  stock  it  with  wild  beasts,  for  the  pleasure  of  hunting. 
His  greatest  friends  met  with  severe  treatment,  wrhen 
they  refused  to  come  into  his  measures ;  whereof  the 
imprisoning  of  his  brother  Odo,  bishop  of  Bayeux,  is  a 
remarkable  instance.3  From  the  beginning,  there  had 
been  a  good  correspondence  between  the  king  and  the 
see  of  Rome  ;  yet,  upon  some  displeasure,  when  he  was 
in  an  angry  mood,  he  published  several  orders  which 
bore  very  hard  upon  some  branches  of  the  pope's  juris- 

1  Godwin,  de  Pra?sul.  in  vit.  Egelwin.     Ang.  Sac.  i.  702,  703. 

2  Fecit  descrihi  omnem  Angliam,  quantum  terras  quisque  baronum  suorum 
possidebat,  quot  feudates  milites,  quot  carrucas,  quot  villarios,  quot  animalia, 
imo  quantum  vivas  pecuniar  quisque  haberet  in  omni  regno  suo,  amaximo  usque 
ad  minimum,  et  quantum  redditus  quaeque  possessio  reddere  poterat;  et  vexata 
est  terra  multis  cladibus  inde  procedentibus.  Hoved.  460.  [The  censure  passed 
in  the  text,  on  the  compilation  of  Domesday,  is  not  deserved.     If  oppression 
were  its  object,  it  must  have  been  the  oppression,  not  of  the  English,  but  of  the 
Normans,  for  to  them  the  property  of  the  natives  had,  in  a  great  measure, 
already  been  transferred.     The  survey,  however,  was  but  the  completion  of  a 
design,  originally  formed  by  the  great  Alfred :  and  its  real  object  was,  to  remove 
the  uncertainty  which  existed,  as  to  many  of  the  ancient  rights  of  the  crown. 
Ingulph,  79,80.— T.] 

3  Hunting.  371 ;  Flor.  640;  Orderic,  646,  647. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  75 

diction ;  which  are  taken  notice  of,  and  particularly 
recorded,  by  the  historian  Eadmer ;  namely,  that  no  papal 
constitution  should  be  received,  unless  it  was  first  in 
spected  and  approved  of  by  him : l  that  no  national 
synod,  called  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  should 
have  any  binding  force,  unless  he  allowed  of  it ;  that  no 
baron,  or  oificer  belonging  to  the  king's  courts,  should 
be  excommunicated,  or  obliged  to  undergo  public  pe 
nance,  without  the  king's  consent. 2  Notwithstanding 
these  orders,  which  did  not  regard  matters  of  faith,  but 
points  of  discipline,  wherein  the  king  was  apprehensive 
some  censures  might  be  pronounced  detrimental  to  the 
civil  government,  and  put  his  subjects  under  some  re 
straint,  he  paid  a  due  respect  to  the  holy  see,  as  to  all 
the  essential  parts  of  its  spiritual  supremacy,  and  carried 
on  the  interest  of  religion  with  the  same  spirit  as  his 
predecessors  had  done.  He  founded  a  noble  abbey  at 
Battle,  in  Sussex,  where  he  obtained  the  victory  over 
Harold.  In  a  declaration  he  made  before  he  died,  which 
is  inserted  in  John  Stow's  Chronicles,  it  appears  that 
forty  monasteries  had  been  founded  in  Normandy,  under 
his  and  his  father's  reign.  In  that  declaration  he  says, 
"  Nine  abbeys  of  monks  and  one  of  nuns,  which  by  my 
fathers  wrere  founded  in  Normandy,  I  helping,  by  the 
assistance  of  God,  have  increased. — Moreover,  in  the 
time  of  my  government,  seventeen  monasteries  of  monks, 
and  six  of  holy  nuns,  are  builded,  where  great  service 
unto  God,  and  much  alms  to  the  poor,  is  daily  bestowed 
for  the  love  of  the  chiefest  king.  With  such  camps 
Normandy  is  fenced,  &c."3  He  was  very  extensive  in 
his  alms  ;  and  even  upon  foreign  churches  bestowed 
large  possessions  in  England. 4  In  regard  of  doctrinal 
matters,  he  banished  several  persons  out  of  his  domi 
nions,  who  began  to  broach  new  opinions  concerning 

1  [There  were  two  especial  reasons  for  this  regulation :  1st,  the  temporal  pre 
tensions  of  G  regory  VII ;  2d,  the  conflicting  claims  of  two  rival  pontiffs,  Gre 
gory,  and  the  antipope,  Guibert. — T.~\ 

2  Eadmer,  6. 

3  Stowe,  124. 

4  Transmarinis  ecclesiis  multas  possessions   in  Anglia  largityis    est;    ut 
Anglia?  copia  tenuitas  illorum  sustentaretur. — Malmesb.  112. 


76  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

Christ's  presence  in  the  blessed  sacrament. l  In  his  last 
sickness,  which  seized  him  in  Normandy,  he  was  very 
desirous  to  have  made  his  confession  to  Anselm,  abbot  of 
Bee,  and  sent  to  him  for  that  purpose ;  but  Anselm, 
being  at  that  time  very  much  indisposed,  was  not  in 
capacity  to  undertake  the  journey.  Before  he  died,  he 
discharged  all  state  prisoners,  and,  among  others,  his 
brother  Odo,  bishop  of  Bayeux.  He  left  several  children, 
both  sons  and  daughters.  I  shall  only  mention  Cecily, 
who  was  abbess  at  Caen,,  in  Normandy;  and  another 
daughter,  called  Adela,  who,  being  married  to  Stephen, 
earl  of  Blois,  after  his  decease  became  a  nun.2 

Besides  what  William  the  Conqueror  performed  him 
self,  he  was  a  great  encourager  of  works  of  piety  in 
others.  His  reign  was  remarkable  for  keeping  up 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  for  religious  foundations. 
Maud,  daughter  of  earl  Waltheoft,  founded  St.  Andrew's 
monastery  in  Northampton,  and  William,  earl  of  War 
ren  and  Surrey,  established  that  of  Lewes,  in  Sussex. 
In  1087,  Roger  de  Montgomery,  founded  the  abbey  of 
Shrewsbury,  dedicated  to  SS.  Peter  and  Paul ;  and,  about 
the  same  time,  he  revived  the  abbey  of  Wenlock,  for 
merly  for  nuns,  and  introduced  monks.  We  meet  with 
several  other  religious  establishments,  about  the  same 
time.  Gundulph,  bishop  of  Rochester,  founded  Mailing 
monastery  for  nuns,  and  a  hospital,  called  St.  Bartho 
lomew's  at  Chatham ;  by  his  means  also  monks  were 
placed  in  his  cathedral  instead  of  canons.  Henry,  earl 
Ferrers,  founded  Titbury  priory  in  Staffordshire.  And 
one  Alwin  Child,  a  citizen  of  London,  was  the  chief 
founder  of  Bermondsey  in  South wark.3  There  happened 

1  Sincera  fide  tenens,  quod  vera  doctrina  praeceperat,  panem  et  vinum,  quae 
altari  superponuntur,  Redemptoris  veram  esse  carnem  et  verum  esse  sanguinem. 
Utique  non  ignotum  est  quanto  zelo  fuerit  insectatus,  atque  exterminare  sate- 
gerit  e  terra  sua,  aliter  sentientem  pravitatem. — Guliel.  Pictaviensis,  apud  Du- 
chesne,  193. 

2  Orderic,  656—663;  Eadmer,  13;  Malmesb.  111.     [It  is  plain,  from  the 
last  writer,  that  Anselm  did  undertake  the  journey,  that  he  was  lodged  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Rouen,  but  that  William,  in  the  hope  of  recovering,  deferred 
his  confession,  till  Anselm  was  too  ill  to  attend  him.     Ibid.— 71] 

3  Dugd.  Monast.  i,  352,  353,  354,  375,  613,  639,  679  ;  Godwin,  de  Praesul. 
in  vit.  Gundulph.  526. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  77 

also  in  this  reign  some  other  occurrences  and  regula 
tions,  as  to  the  affairs  of  the  church,  which  I  am  not 
willing  to  pass  over  in  silence.  One  Turgot,  archdeacon 
of  Durham,  afterwards  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  wrote 
the  history  of  the  church  of  Durham,  and  the  life  of  St. 
Cuthbert,  from  very  authentic  records,  which  afterwards, 
in  king  Stephen's  days,  appeared  under  the  name  of 
Simon,  a  monk  of  Durham,  who  was  a  plagiary,  as  the 
learned  Selden  observes.1  In  the  year  1069,  died  Aired, 
or  Ealred,  archbishop  of  York,  as  also  of  Worcester, 
this  latter  see  being  often  held  in  commendam,  because 
the  see  of  York  was  very  much  impoverished  by  the 
Danish  wars.  He  was  succeeded  by  Thomas,  a  Norman, 
who  was  a  zealous  prelate,  and  had  a  great  controversy 
with  Lanfranc,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  claimed 
a  jurisdiction  over  the  see  of  York.  The  cause  was 
carried  to  Rome,  and  the  pope  referring  the  matter  to  the 
king  and  the  bishops  in  England,  the  archbishop  of  York 
was  obliged  to  submit.  This  controversy  was  some 
times  renewed  by  their  successors.  Soon  after  the  con 
quest,  in  this  reign,  Remigius  de  Feschamp,  a  monk 
from  Normandy,  was  made  bishop  of  Dorchester,  being 
the  last  that  sat  there ;  for,  soon  after,  that  see  was 
removed  to  Lincoln ;  at  which  time,  William  of  Mal- 
mesbury  reports,  that  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  richest 
and  most  populous  cities  in  England,  remarkable  for 
traffic  both  by  sea  and  land.  The  cathedral  was  served 
by  secular  prebends.  The  said  historian  places  the  re 
moval  of  Dorchester  see  under  William  Rufus ;  but,  per 
haps,  he  speaks  only  as  to  some  endowments.2  It  hap 
pened,  in  the  Conqueror's  reign,  that  Peter,  bishop  of 
Litchfield,  removed  his  see  to  Chester ;  but  his  successor, 
Robert  de  Limsey,  carried  it  to  Coventry,  from  whence, 
not  long  after,  it  came  to  Litchfield  again ;  yet  so,  that 
the  succeeding  bishops  were  styled  of  Coventry  and 
Litchfield.  We  also  meet  with  one  or  two  bishops  in 
these  times,  that  were  still  called  bishops  of  Chester.  In 

1  Prsef.  ad.  Decem  Scriptores,  p.  3,  et  seq. 

2  P.  128.     [There  is  no  doubt  that  Malmesbury  is  correct.     The  see  was 
translated  in  1092.    Chron.  Mailros,  162.— r.] 


78  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

the  days  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  Herman,  bishop  of 
Sherbourn  and  Wiltshire,  began  to  remove  his  see  to 
Salisbury  (which  at  that  time  was   old  Salisbury,  at 
some  distance  from  the  present  Salisbury),  but  this  re 
moval  was  not  completed   till  the  Conqueror's  reign. 
Herman  was  succeeded  by  Osmund,  who  died  in  1099. 
He  was  a  good  prelate,  and  is  worthy  of  our  remem 
brance,  upon  account  of  his  being  the  first  compiler  of 
the  church  office,  and  ordinal  ad  usum  Sarum.     He 
also  wrote  the  life  of  St.  Adelm,  first  bishop  of  Sherbourn, 
whom  Baronius  mistakes  for  St.  Anselm ;  for  Anselm 
being  alive  ten  years  after  Osmund's  decease,  Osmund 
could  not  very  probably  be  the  writer  of  his  life.     Os 
mund  has  a  place  in  the  calendar,  among  the  saints.1 
William  II,    called   Rufus,   was    the   Conqueror's 
second  son.     When  he  first  came  to  the  crown,  he 
concealed  a  great  many  ill  qualities,  which  afterwards 
discovered  themselves,  to  the  detriment  both  of  church 
and  state.     However,  his  hypocrisy  was  so  far  service 
able,  as  to  make  archbishop  Lanfranc  have  a  good  opi 
nion  of  him ;  which,  with  the  addition  of  fair  promises, 
and  an  oath  to  preserve  and  defend  the  liberties  of  the 
church,  gave  that  prelate  still  greater  hopes   of  him. 
Before  Lanfranc  died,  the  king  intimated  to  him,  that 
he  did  not  take  himself  to  lie  under  any  obligation,  upon 
account  of  the  aforesaid  oath  and  promises,  which  he 
made,  as   it  were,    compelled  by   circumstances.     He 
quickly  gave  some  specimens  of  what  his  reign  would 
likely  prove  to  be  ;  which,  indeed,  from  little  disorders, 
after   Lanfranc's  decease    (who  kept    him   somewhat 
within  bounds),  by  gradual  steps,  was  remarkable  for 
oppression  and  impiety.     William  of  Malmesbury  de 
scribes  him  to  have  been  rather  prodigal  than  liberal, 
rather  proud  than  magnificent,  rather  cruel  than  severe.2 
He  reduced  many  of  the  cathedrals  to  an  allowance,  so 
that  the  monks  and  canons  had  only  what  was  sufficient 
for  mere  necessaries  ;  the  rest  of  their  revenues  were 

1  Brompt.  952 ;  Mailros,  160 ;   Malmesb.  206,  288,  290 ;   Godwin  in  vit. 
Roger,  Ep.  Lichf.  et  Osmund,  Ep.  Sar.  313,  337 
-  P.  122,215. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  79 

seized  for  the  use  of  the  crown.     Eadmer  farther  tells 
us,  that  he  was  accustomed  to  expose  the  dignities  of 
the  church  to  open  sale  ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  had  pro 
vided  himself  with  a  fit  instrument,  one  Ranulph,  a 
clergyman,  surnamed  Flambard,  whom  he  had  made  his 
treasurer.     The  method  then  was,  when  any  bishopric 
or  abbey  became  vacant,  some  cringing  person  was  ad 
vanced,  who  came  into  the  court  measures,  and  suffered 
the  church  to  be  pillaged.     When  two  or  more  candi 
dates  offered   themselves,  he  that  could  produce  the 
longest  purse  was  sure  of  the  preference.     And  what 
was  still  a  greater  injustice  (because  it  affected  religion 
in  general),  benefices  were  purposely  kept  void,  for  a 
long  time,  that  the  crown  might  enjoy  all  the  revenues  ; 
whereas,  in  his  father's  reign,  whenever  such  vacancies 
happened,  care  was  taken  to  reserve  the  arrears  for  the 
benefit  of  the  next  incumbent.1     In  the  year  1 093, 
the  king,  being  attacked  with  a  dangerous  fit  of  l 
sickness,  sent  for  Anselm,  abbot  of  Bee  (who  at  that 
time  happened  to  be  in  England),  and  made  a  confession 
of  his  sins  to  him.     He  promised  to  become  a  new  man, 
and,  to  that  purpose,  signed  a  declaration,  which  he 
ordered  to  be  published.    It  imported,  that  all  state  pri 
soners  should  be  set  at  liberty,  their  fines  discharged, 
and  satisfaction  be  made  for  all  the  injustices  that  had 
been  committed  ;  that  good  and  wholesome  laws  should 
be  made,  and  duly  put  in  execution,  to  the  full  content 
of  all  his  subjects.     And  whereas  he  had  kept  the  see 
of  Canterbury  five  years  in  his  hands,  and  made  use  of 
the  revenues  all  that  time,  he  now  made  a  tender  of  it 
to  Anselm.     But  Anselm,  as  well  out  of  humility  as 
upon  other  motives,  declined  the  offer,  while  the  gene 
rality  of  the  bishops  pressed  him  hard  to  accept  of  it. 
In  the  meantime,  the  king  recovers,  and  quickly  forgot 
all  the  good  resolutions  he  had  made  in  the  time  of  his 
sickness,  only  he  continued  to  urge  Anselm  to  accept 
of  the  see  of  Canterbury.     At  length,  Anselm  partly 

1  Eadmer,  14.  Haec  eo  indigniora  videbantur,  quod,  tempore  patris,  post 
discessum  episcopi,  vel  abbatis,  omnes  redditus  integre  custodiebantur,  substi- 
tuendo  pastori  resignandi.— Malmesb.  123. 


80  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i 

consented ;  but  it  was  upon  the  following  conditions : 
that  the  king  would  restore  the  lands  he  had  taken  from 
that  see,  in  Lanfranc's  time  ;  that  he  would  submit  him 
self  to  the  bishops,  in  those  matters  wherein  he  had 
manifestly  encroached  upon  their  authority ;  and  that 
he  would  acknowledge  the  present  pope,  Urban  II,  to  be 
duly  elected.  The  answer,  which  the  king  returned  to 
these  points,  was,  that  he  would  immediately  restore 
the  lands  that  belonged  to  Canterbury  ;  and,  for  the 
rest,  he  would  submit  himself  to  Anselm' s  judgment  in 
what  was  right.  Upon  this,  Anselm  accepted  of  the 
see  of  Canterbury,  and,  in  the  following  December,  was 
consecrated.1 

Not  long  after,  the  king  having  occasion  to  go  into 
Normandy,  Anselm  made  him  a  visit  before  he  went 
over ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  took  an  occasion  to  lay 
before  him  the  present  state  the  kingdom  was  in,  upon 
account  of  immorality  and  want  of  discipline  ;  particu 
larly,  that  both  church  and  state  suffered  very  much  by 
the  long  vacancies  in  ecclesiastical  dignities,  and,  there 
fore,  he  desired  that  a  national  synod  might  be  assem 
bled,  to  redress  all  those  evils.  The  anger  of  the  king 
was  roused  by  the  importunity  of  the  primate,  and 
Anselm,  after  a  fruitless  expostulation,  retired  in  dis 
grace.  To  regain  his  influence,  however,  he  requested 
the  bishops  to  reconcile  him  with  his  sovereign.  In 
reply,  they  intimated  to  him  a  piece  of  advice,  which, 
they  judged,  would  be  very  suitable  to  the  king's  tem 
per  ;  it  was,  to  offer  him  a  handsome  sum  of  money, 
and  buy  his  peace :  but  the  method  pleased  not  the 
archbishop,  who  said  he  was  not  a  merchant,  but  a 
father.  When  the  answer  was  reported  to  the  king,  he 
exclaimed,  "  I  hated  him  yesterday :  I  will  hate  him 
more  to-day.  For  archbishop  I  will  never  receive  him. 
Let  him  go  where  he  will.  Let  him  not  wait  to  give 
me  his  blessing,  when  I  sail :  for  his  blessings  and  his 
prayers  I  alike  reject."2 

1  Eadmer,  15 — 20.     [William's  answer  was  evidently  evasive :  "  Verumta- 
men,  de  his  et  aliis,  credam  tibi,  sicut  debebo."     Ib.  20. — J1.] 
3  Id.  23—25. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  81 

Another  time,  Anselm  petitioned  the  king,  that  he  might 
have  leave  to  go  to  Rome,  and  receive  the  pall  from  pope 
Urban  II.     This  was  a  huge  provocation ;  the  king  told 
him,  that  he  did  not  own  Urban  II.  to  be  the  true  pope, 
and  that  it  was  no  less  than  an  attempt  against  his  crown 
to  make  such  a  petition.     Upon  this,  Anselm  adviseth 
with  the  rest  of  his  brethren,  the  bishops ;  but,  as  the 
generality  of  them  were  courtiers,  they  said,  it  was  fit 
the  king  should  be  obeyed  in  things  of  that  nature.   This 
behaviour  of  theirs  was  thought  by  Anselm  to  be  too 
condescending,  and,  therefore,  he  took  an  occasion  to  put 
them  in  mind  of  what  was  due  to  God,  and  what  to 
kings ;  that  the  government  of  the  church  belonged  to 
the  apostles'  successors,  especially  St.  Peter's,  that  com 
mission  not  being  directed  to  emperors,  kings,  dukes, 
or  earls,  who,  notwithstanding,  had  a  right  to  com 
mand,  and  ought  to  be  obeyed,  in  all  temporal  concerns. 
The  contest  between  the  king  and  Anselm  continuing, 
there  were  some  motions  made  about  deposing  Anselm, 
unless  he  would  renounce  all  subjection  to  pope  Urban  II.1 
This  the  king  insisted  upon,  and  consulted  the  bishop 
of  Durham  upon  the  matter.    But  the  rest  of  the  bishops 
judged  this  to  be  too  bold  an  attempt,  so  they  were 
silent.     On  the  other  hand,  the  people  in  general  encou 
raged  Anselm  to  bear  up  with  patience  and  resolution  ; 
for  they  had  an  opinion  both  of  his  merits  and  cause. 
When  the  bishops  were  afterwards  summoned  to  speak 
their  thoughts,  concerning  Anselm's  being  deposed,  they 
told  the  king,  that  affair  belonged  entirely  to  the  pope  ; 
yet  so  far  they  would  venture  to  comply  with  the  king's 
pleasure,  as  to  renounce  personal  obedience  to  Anselm, 
till  a  farther  discussion  of  his  case.     In  the  meantime, 
most  of  the  nobility  were  inclined  to  favour  Anselm, 
and,  therefore,  they  petitioned  for  a  respite.  Accordingly, 

1  [The  question  here  was,  not  as  to  the  supremacy  of  the  papal  see,  which 
all  parties  acknowledged,  but  as  to  which  of  two  competitors,  Urban,  or  the 
antipope,  Clement,  had  been  lawfully  invested  with  it.  This  is  distinctly  stated 
by  Eadmer.  "  Erant  namque  Romae,  in  illis  diebus,  duo  pontifices,  qui  a 
diversis  apostolici  nuncupabantur :  sed  quis  eorum  canonice,  quis  secus  fuerit 
institutus,  ab  Anglis,  usque  ad  id  temporis,  ignorabatur.  Scire  itaque  verita- 
tem  hujus  rei,  Romam  missi  sunt,"  &c.  p.  32. — T.~\ 

VOL.  I.  G 


82  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

the  king  consented,  that  nothing  should  be  determined 
against  Anselm,  till  after  the  octave  of  Whitsunday ; 
during  which  time,  he  was  permitted  to  retire  to  his  see. 
This,  however,  did  not  hinder  the  king  from  showing  his 
resentment  against  those  that  had  appeared  most  zealous 
in  Anselm's  defence  :  Baldwin,  a  monk,  his  chief  coun 
sellor,  and  several  of  the  clergy,  were  sent  into  banish 
ment,  and  many  others  fell  under  persecution.1 

While  these  matters  were  carried  on,  Walter,  a 

5  cardinal,  and  the  pope's  legate,  arrives  in  England ; 
who,  in  a  little  time,  so  worked  upon  the  king,  as  to 
bring  him  to  acknowledge  pope  Urban  II.  This  was  the 
prelude  to  a  reconciliation.  In  the  conclusion,  the  king 
was  persuaded  to  come  to  an  agreement,  and  Anselm 
was  reconciled  to  him  upon  honourable  terms.  Walter, 
the  legate,  had  brought  over  with  him  the  pall.  Now, 
there  was  some  difficulty  as  to  the  manner  of  its  being 
delivered  ;  and,  not  to  give  the  king  a  new  occasion  of 
quarrelling,  several  of  the  bishops  and  nobility  advised 
Anselm  to  let  the  pall  pass  through  the  king's  hands,  at 
least  by  way  of  compliment.  This  Anselm  would  not 
agree  to  ;  because  it  was  a  dignity  not  conferred  by 
kings,  but  only  by  St.  Peter's  successors.  The  manner 
of  delivering  it  at  last  was,  the  legate  laid  the  pall  upon 
the  altar,  from  whence  the  archbishop  took  it  up.2 

In  the  year  1096,  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  the 
king's  brother,  having  occasion  for  money,  to  bear  the 
expenses  of  his  expedition  in  the  holy  war,  applied 
himself  to  king  William  for  a  certain  sum,  at  the  same 
time  offering  to  mortgage  Normandy,  by  way  of  security. 
The  king  embraced  the  proposal,  and,  in  order  to  raise 
the  money,  ordered  an  insupportable  tax  to  be  laid  upon 
all  his  subjects  :  but  the  ecclesiastics,  in  particular, 
experienced  the  weight  of  the  imposition,  who,  not 
being  able  to  answer  what  was  required  of  them,  were 
obliged  to  dispose  of  the  church  plate,  to  make  up  defi 
ciencies.3  Among  the  most  cheerful  contributors,  on 


1  Eadmer,  25—31.  2  Id.  32,  33. 

3  Orderic,  764,  765 ;  Malmesb.  124  ;  Eadmer,  35. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  8$ 

this  occasion,  was  Anselm.  To  meet  the  royal  demand, 
he  mortgaged  the  rents  of  one  of  his  manors,  for  seven 
years,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  present  the  king  with 
two  hundred  pounds  of  silver. 

But,  notwithstanding  this  evidence  of  his  loyalty,  we 
have  an  account  of  another  contest  between  him  and  his 
sovereign.  Anselm  had  often  petitioned  for  leave  to  go  to 
Rome,  but  the  king  would  never  allow  of  it ;  and,  in  the 
year  1097,  he  renewed  this  petition,  in  order  to  confer 
with  the  pope  about  some  matters  of  discipline,  which 
couldnot  be  brought  about  without  a  personal  conference. 
When  the  motion  was  made,  the  king  refused  it ;  which 
made  Anselm  resolve  within  himself  to  take  that  journey 
without  leave  :  but  that  he  might  not  expose  himself  too 
much  to  censure,  he  communicated  the  reasons  of  his 
journey  to  the  bishops,  who  approved  of  them  ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  acknowledged,  they  could  not  come 
up  to  that  pitch  of  virtue  and  zeal  he  was  master  of,  or 
risk  the  anger  of  a  prince,  upon  such  an  account.  At 
length,  he  was  informed  that  he  might  depart,  but  that, 
if  he  went,  his  revenues  would  immediately  be  seized 
by  the  crown.  Anselm  bowed  to  the  condition.  En 
tering  the  royal  apartment,  he  bestowed  his  blessing  on 
the  king,  and  instantly  set  forth  on  his  intended  jour 
ney.1  I  have  been  a  little  tedious  in  relating  these 
matters  concerning  St.  Anselm  ;  but  I  could  do  no  less, 
considering  the  merits  of  the  person,  who,  for  learning 

'  Eadmer,  33 — 41.  [Anselm,  in  his  letter  to  pope  Urban,  thus  states  his 
reasons  for  retiring  to  Rome  : — "  Videbam  enim  multa  mala,  in  terra  ilia,  quse 
nee  tolerare  debebam,  nee  episcopali  libertate  corrigere  poteram.... Terras  ipsius 
ecclesiae  (Cantuariensis),  quas,  post  mortem  archiepiscopi  Lanfranci,  cum  in 
manu  sua  archiepiscopatum  teneret,  militibus  suis  dederat,  mihi,  sicut  eas 
idem  archiepiscopus  tenuerat,  rex  non  reddebat ;  sed  insuper  alias,  secundum 
libitum  suum,  me  nolente  dabat.  Servitia  gravia,  et  antecessoribus  meis 
inusitata,  ultra  quam  ferre  possem,  aut  pati  deberem,  a  me  exigebat.  Legem 
autem  Dei,  et  canonicas  et  apostolicas  authoritates  voluntariis  consuetudinibus 
obrui  videbam.  De  his  omnibus  cum  loquebar,  nihil  efficiebam.  Sciens  igitur 
quod,  si  hsec  ita  usque  in  finem  tolerarem,  in  damnationem  anima?  meae,  suo 
cessoribus  meis  tarn  pravam  consuetudinem  confirmarem  (nee  de  his  placitare 
poteram,  nullus  enim  aut  consilium  aut  auxilium  mihi  ad  hsec  audebat  dare) 

petii  a  rege  licentiam  adeundi  vestram  sanctitatem Haec  igitur  est  summa 

supplicationis  meae,  propter  quam  ad  vos  ire  volebam,  ut animam  meam  de 

vinculo  tantce  servitutis  absolvatis,  eique  libertatem  servieridi  Deo  in  tranquil- 

litate  reddatis; deinde  ut  ecclesiae  Anglorum,  secundum   prudentiam  et 

authoritatem  apostolatus  vestri,  consulatis.     Eadmer,  43. —  71.] 

G  2 


84  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

and  piety,  had  not  his  equal  in  that  age  ;  which  cha 
racter,  being  placed  against  that  of  the  prince,  by  whom 
Anselm  was  opposed  and  persecuted,  may  be  a  means 
of  forming  a  true  judgment  of  those  controversies,  which 
frequently  happen  between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
power,  William  Rufus  died  August  5th,  in  the  year 
1100.  Our  historians  commonly  report,  that  he  was 
accidentally  killed  in  the  NewT  Forest,  by  Walter  Tyrill, 
a  French  knight;  but  Suger,  a  French  historian,  gives 
a  diiferent  account.  We  have  the  character  of  this  king, 
in  a  few  words,  from  William  Malmesbury,  who  tells 
us,  that  as  he  lived  a  tyrant,  so  he  died  without  repent 
ance  ;  and  that  his  whole  reign  had  been  a  scourge  both 
to  church  and  state,  who  lay  under  a  continual  oppres 
sion,  to  feed  his  avarice,  and  support  his  pride.1 

We  are  not  to  look  for  many  works  of  piety  in  a 
reign  of  contention,  and  where  the  king  was  so  far  from 
leaving  any  marks  of  his  zeal  for  religion,  that  he  was 
but  one  remove  from  being  an  atheist.  What  religious 
foundations  were  laid  in  the  present  reign,  by  others, 
were,  the  abbey  of  Eynsham,  near  Oxford,  by  Richard 
Bloet,  or  Bluet,  second  bishop  of  Lincoln  ;2  the  abbey  of 
St.  Werberg,  in  Chester,  by  Hugh  Lupus,  earl  of  Ches 
ter,  who  rebuilt  it,  and  placed  monks  in  it,  by  the  advice 
of  St.  Anselm  (it  had  formerly  been  a  nunnery,  with  a 
church,  built  by  the  famous  earl  Leofric) ;  and  two  hos 
pitals,  one  called  St.  John's,  the  other  at  Hatbaldown, 
founded  by  archbishop  Lanfranc,  who  also  ejected  the 
clergy  from  Rochester,  and  placed  monks  in  their  room.3 
It  would  be  an  unpardonable  omission  not  to  take  notice 
of  Margaret,  Queen  of  Scotland,  contemporary  with  this 
reign.  She  was  wife  to  King  Malcolm,  a  lady  of  exalted 
merit  and  virtue.  She  was  constantly  attended  by 
twenty-four  poor,  to  whom  she  allowed  clothes  and 

1  Malmesb.  126;  Suger,  vit.  Lud.  Cras.  283. 

3  [This  foundation  is  evidently  ascribed  to  Bluet,  on  the  authority  of  Godwin 
(in  vit.  Bluet,  p.  284).  From  the  charters  in  Dugdale,  however,  it  is  certain, 
that  Eynsham  was  built  and  endowed  by  ^Ethelmar,  in  1005,  that  it  subsequently 
fell  into  decay,  and  that  it  was  at  length  restored  by  the  piety  of  Henry  I.,  in 
1109.  Monast.  Ang.  i.  258— 265.— 71.] 

3  Dugd.  Monast.  i.  199  ;  Godwin,  in  vit.  Lanfranc,  61. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  85 

victuals.  She  arose  every  night,  and  spent  a  consider 
able  time  in  prayer.  The  morning  was  employed  in 
serving  the  poor,  which  commonly  were  three  hundred  ; 
in  which  pious  work  the  king  frequently  assisted  her. 
Wulstan,  the  famous  bishop  of  Worcester,  lived  in  this 
and  the  former  reign.  He  died  in  the  year  1095,  in  the 
90th  year  of  his  age.  About  this  reign,  the  see  of  Thet- 
ford  was  removed  to  Norwich.1 

Henry  I.   succeeded   his  brother,  William  Rufus. 

He  was  the  Conqueror's  third  son,  and  distin 
guished  by  the  name  of  Beauclerc,  upon  account  of  his 
learning.  He  may  be  reckoned  one  of  our  good  kings,  by 
whose  management  affairs  both  in  church  and  state  met 
with  as  much  success  as  human  prudence  and  Christian 
zeal  could  contribute.  He  discharged  the  nation  from 
many  heavy  taxes  imposed  by  his  predecessor,  and  im 
prisoned  Flambard,  who  was  the  chief  contriver  of 
them.  He  banished  libertines  and  scandalous  persons 
from  his  court,  he  recalled  Anselm  from  exile,  and  took 
care  that  his  other  advisers  should  be  men  of  character 
as  to  private  life,  and  no  less  useful  to  the  kingdom  by 
their  public  qualifications.2  In  his  reign,  great  disputes 
were  a-foot  concerning  the  limits  of  the  civil  and  eccle 
siastical  power,  and  were  carried  on  to  a  great  height, 
between  the  emperor  and  the  see  of  Rome.  The  chief 
point  was  about  investitures,  which  was  not  so  much 
about  the  right  of  presenting  to  episcopal  sees,  and  some 

1  Malmesb.  122;  Godwin,  de  Prsesul.  455.     [The  translation  of  Thetford, 
like  that  of  Selsey,  Dorchester,  and  other  sees,  was  in  pursuance  of  a  decree, 
passed  in  a  council  held  in  London,  in  1076,  whereby  it  was  ordered  "  quod 
sedes  episcoporum  de  viculis  ad  urbes  celebres  transirent."     Brompt.  975. — T.~\ 

2  [From  this  unqualified  praise,  however,  many  deductions  must  be  made. 
If  Henry,  by  his  charter,  remitted  the  taxes,  levied  in  the  preceding  reigns,  it 
was  only  to  impoverish  the  nation  by  other,  and  not  less  oppressive,  exactions : 
if  he  engaged  to  restore  the  ancient  immunities  of  the  church,  to  relinquish  the 
sale  of  benefices,  and  to  appropriate  nothing  to  himself  from  their  revenues,  it 
was  only  to  profit  by  the  reputation  of  a  reformer,  without  any  intention  of 
abandoning  the  customs,  which  he  professed  to  condemn.     The  histories  of  the 
time  abound  with  evidences  of  these  facts.     Eadmer  (83),  Huntingdon  (470), 
Brompton  (1001),  and  the  writer  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle  (211  et  seq.)  are  loud 
in  their  complaints  of  his  rapacity  :  while  the  sale  of  Litchfield  (Simeon  256), 
the  plunder  of  Winchester  (Ang.  Sac.  i.  297),  and  the  refusal  of  prelates  to 
Canterbury,  Durham,  and  other  sees,  for  several  years  (Ang.  Sac.  i.  7 ;  Simeon 
62),  afford  the  most  convincing  proofs  of  the  iniquity  of  his  proceedings  in  those 
matters. — T.~\ 


86  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

other  ecclesiastical  dignities  (which  not  only  princes,  but 
other  founders  might  lay  claim  to,  accordingly  as  cus 
tom  or  laws  gave  them  authority),  as  about  the  cere 
mony  made  use  of,  upon  such  occasions,  which  seemed 
to  import  some  kind  of  spiritual  power  in  the  civil  ma 
gistrate  ;  as,  namely,  the  ceremony  of  investing  bishops 
arid  abbots,  by  the  delivery  of  the  Pastoral  Staff  and 
Ring ;  for  this  ceremony  appeared  to  intimate  some 
thing  more  than  a  confirmation  of  jurisdiction  as  to 
temporals.     I  will  not  say,  the  princes,  in  those  days, 
pretended  to  any  more  than  a  right  of  presentation,  and 
a  right  of  confirmation,  as  to  temporals,  or  that  they 
contended  for  any  sort  of  jurisdiction  that  was  merely 
spiritual.     However,  they  were  unwilling  to  part  with 
the  ceremony  of  the  Staff  and  the  Ring ;  and  the  pope 
insisting  that  it  spoke  spiritual  jurisdiction,  this  occa 
sioned  those  hot  disputes,  in  which  king  Henry  I.,  after 
the  example  of  other  princes,  was,  for  some  time,  en 
gaged  with  pope  Paschal  II. :  but,  in  the  conclusion,  the 
king  submitted,  and  surrendered  the  right  of  investiture 
per  annulum  et  baculum  to  the  holy  see.1  King  Henry  I. 

1  Statuit  ut,  ab  eo  tempore  in  reliquum,  nunquam  per  dationem  baculi  pasto- 
ralis,  vel  annuli,  quisquam  de  episcopatu,  aut  abbatia,  per  regem  vel  quamlibet 
laicam  manum,  in  Anglia  investiretur. — Flor.  652.  Eadmer,  91.  It  is  thought 
that  Henry  V.,  his  son-in-law,  gave  up  the  same  cause  through  his  persuasion : 
for,  though,  in  the  year  1111,  he  took  pope  Paschal  prisoner,  in  order  to  force 
him  to  grant  investitures,  yet  he  relented  afterwards,  and,  in  1122,  gave  up  the 
ceremony  to  pope  Calixtus,  the  second  in  succession  from  Paschal.  Thus,  as 
Malmesbury  observes,  was  ended  a  controversy  of  fifty  years'  debate  (Malmesb. 
166, 169,  170).  It  is  uncertain  what  prince  first  practised  the  ceremony. 

[It  should  here  be  remarked,  that  this  controversy,  though  apparently  re 
lating  to  a  matter  of  mere  form,  involved,  in  fact,  a  subject  of  real  importance 
to  religion.  By  possessing  the  right  of  investiture,  the  late  king  had  been  able, 
in  some  instances,  to  keep  the  benefices  of  the  church  in  his  own  hands ;  in 
others,  to  dispose  of  her  dignities,  like  merchandize,  to  the  highest  bidder :  and 
it  was  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  these  abuses,  no  less  than  of  asserting 
their  own  immunities,  that  the  more  virtuous  of  the  clergy  now  united  with  the 
pontiffs  in  resisting  the  supposed  prerogative  of  the  crown.  Unfortunately,  the 
result  was  not  answerable  to  the  zeal  of  the  parties  engaged  in  the  opposition. 
In  securing  the  shadow,  the  substance  was  forgotten.  Henry,  indeed,  surren 
dered  the  ring  and  crosier,  the  emblems  of  spiritual  jurisdiction,  but  he  was 
still  allowed  to  nominate  to  the  vacant  bishoprics,  and  was  thus  enabled,  as 
heretofore,  to  retain,  or  dispose  of,  their  revenues  for  his  own  profit. 

Another  controversy  between  Henry  and  the  court  of  Rome  regarded  the  ad 
mission  of  papal  legates.  The  pope,  as  chief  pastor,  claimed  the  right  of  visit 
ing,  by  his  delegates,  the  several  churches  of  Christendom  :  Henry  admitted  the 
right,  but  maintained,  as  the  prescriptive  privilege  of  England,  that  it  could  br 
exercised  only  through  the  native  prelates  of  the  kingdom,  and  more  especially 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  87 

married  his  daughter,  Matilda,  to  the  emperor,  Henry 
V.,  and  died  in  the  year  1135.  Hugh,  archbishop  of 
Rouen,  in  a  letter  he  wrote  to  pope  Innocent  II.,  gives 
this  account  of  his  behaviour  in  his  last  sickness  :  that 
he  made  a  confession  of  his  sins  to  him,  received  abso 
lution,  promising  an  amendment  of  his  life  if  he  reco 
vered  ;  that  he  kissed  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  received 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  and  afterwards,  having 
given  orders  for  what  alms  he  designed  to  bestow,  he 
earnestly  desired  to  be  anointed.1 

No  reign,  since  the  Saxon  heptarchy, was  more  remark 
able  for  religious  foundations,  than  this  of  king  Henry 
I.,  whereof  many  were  erected  in  Normandy,  which  I 
shall  not  take  notice  of.  Those,  founded  by  him  in 
England,  were,  chiefly,  a  noble  abbey  at  Reading,  in 
Berkshire  ;  the  priory  at  Dunstable,  for  regular  canons, 
where  he  also  laid  the  foundation  of  the  town  ;  Merton 
priory,  in  Surrey  ;  the  church,  together  with  the  town 
of  Old  Windsor ;  Trinity  priory,  within  Aldgate,  which 
he  established  in  conjunction  with  Matilda,  his  wife, 
Cirencester  abbey,  as  also  St.  John's  hospital  near  the 
same  place,  and  the  hospital  of  St.  Peter  at  York.2 

through  the  archbishops  of  Canterbury.  It  would  have  been  difficult  to  esta 
blish  the  existence  of  the  prescription,  alleged  by  the  royal  disputant.  The 
king,  however,  was  supported  in  his  opposition  by  the  English  bishops ;  and 
legate  after  legate  was  compelled  to  return  to  Rome,  without  effecting  the  object 
of  his  mission.  At  length,  in  1125,  John  of  Crema  was  employed  by  Hono- 
rius  II.  to  renew  the  experiment,  and,  after  a  protracted  negotiation,  was  per 
mitted  by  Henry  to  make  the  visitation  of  the  English  church.  The  pontiff 
now  seemed  to  think  that  sufficient  had  been  done  to  vindicate  the  prerogative 
of  his  chair.  Without  mentioning  the  disputed  claim,  he  hastened  to  confer  the 
legatine  authority  in  England  on  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury:  a  similar 
grant  was  made  by  Innocent,  the  successor  of  Honorius,  to  Henry,  bishop  of 
Winchester ;  and  the  claim,  hitherto  so  warmly  contested,  was  quietly  allowed 
to  fall  into  abeyance. — Eadmer,  58,  118,  137;  Simeon,  251 ;  Baronius  ad  an. 
1125;  Flor.  Contin.  662;  Ang.  Sac.  i.  792. — T.~\ 

1  Crucem  Domini  adoravit,  corpus  et  sanguinem  Domini  suscepit  devote  . . . 

et  ipsius  pia  petitione  oleo  sancto  eum  inunximus. — Hugo,  Epist.  ad 

Innoc.  II.  apud  Malmesb.  178. 

2  Malmesb.  253;  Dugd.  Monast.  ii.  89,  132,  135,  392;   Alford,  iv.  264. 
[From  the  words  "  Statuimus  autem,  tarn  ecclesiastics  quam  regice  prospectu 
potestatis"  &c.,  which  occur  in  the  foundation  charter  of  Reading,  Sir  Edward 
Coke  (Reports,  part  v.  p.  10)  argues  that  Henry  both  claimed  and  exercised  the 
right  of  spiritual  jurisdiction.     He  forgets,  however,  that  the  charter  is  signed, 
not  only  by  Henry,  but  also  by  John  of  Crema,  the  pope's  legate,  besides  two 
archbishops,  nine  bishops,  and  five  abbots,  and  that,  while,  in  this  passage,  it  uses 
the  plural  number  (statuimus),  in  those,  wherein  the  king  speaks  in  his  individual 
capacity,  it  invariably  employs  the  singular.    See  the  charter  in  Dugdale,  Monast. 
i.  417,  418.— 71.] 


88  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

These,  with  some  others,  which  occur  not  at  present, 
were  lasting,  though  not  everlasting,  monuments  of  king 
Henry's  zeal.    Now,  as  for  those  works  of  piety,  which 
were  erected  by  others,  but  encouraged  by  him,  I  shall 
exceed  my  designed  brevity,  to  give  a  full  account  of 
them.    Among  these,  we  meet  with  Dunmow  monastery, 
in  Essex,  founded  by  the  lady  Juga  Baynard  ;  the  priory 
of  Oseney,  near  Oxford,  by  Robert  D'Oyly  ;  Colchester 
abbey  of  black  canons,  by  Eudo,  the  king's  steward,  and 
dedicated  in  honour  of  St.  John  ;  St.  James's  priory,  in 
Bristol,  by  Robert,  earl   of  Gloucester ;  the  priory  of 
Kenilworth,  for  regular  canons,  by  Geoffrey  Clinton,  the 
king's  chamberlain  ;    Plympton   monastery,  in  Devon 
shire,  by   William   War le wast,   bishop  of  Exeter ;  St. 
John's  of  Jerusalem,  near  Smithfield,  as  also  Clerkenwell 
monastery,  for  nuns,  by  Jordan  de  Brisset ;  Tewkesbury 
monastery,   refounded    by   Robert  Fitzhamon,   a  no 
bleman  ;  St.  Bartholomew's  hospital,,  or  priory,  by  Ra- 
here,  the  king's  minstrel ;  the  priory  of  regular  canons, 
in  Leicester,  with  a  monastery  of  the  same  order,  near 
Leicester,  by  two  of  the  Mellents,  earls  of  Leicester  (the 
latter  monastery  called  St.  Mary's  de  Prato)  ;  St.  John's 
of  Lanthony,  for  canons,  by  Hugh  Lacy,  translated  to 
Hyde,  near  Gloucester,  by  Milo,  earl  of  Hereford;  the 
noble  monastery  of  St.  Osyth's,  in  Essex,  for  regular  ca 
nons,  by  Richard  Beauvais,  bishop  of  London,  who  died 
in  1127;  Waverley  monastery,  for  Cistercian  monks, 
St.  Mary   Overy's,    in    Southwark,    and   also    a   mo 
nastery   of  nuns    at    Taunton,    by    William    Giifard, 
bishop   of  Winchester,   who    died    in    1128;    and    a 
house   of  regular    canons,    in    Cambridge,  by    Nigel, 
bishop  of  Ely :  this  house  afterwards  became  a  college, 
called  St.  John's,  refounded  by  Margaret,  countess  of 
Richmond,  mother  to  king  Henry  VII.     William  Her 
bert,  the  last  bishop  of  Thetford,  and  first  of  Norwich, 
built  five  churches,  besides  the  cathedral,  and  several 
hospitals ;  viz.   two  in  Norwich,  that  is,  St  Leonard's 
and  another ;  one  at  Elmham,  one  at  Lynn,  and  another 
at  Yarmouth.     He  died  in  1 1 19.1 

1  Dugd.  Monast.  i.  et  ii.  in  locis;  Godwin,  in  vit.  Nigel,  Episc.  Elien. ;  ct 
Herbert,  Episc.  Norw.  pp.  250, 427,  428. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  89 

Before  I  pass  to  the  next  reign,  it  will  not  be  impro 
per  to  take  notice  of  some  occurrences,  which  happened 
in  these  times,  and  may  bring  some  light  to  our  church 
history.  The  see  of  St.  David's  having  formerly  enjoyed 
a  metropolitic  power,  Bernard,  the  present  incumbent, 
had  a  mind  to  make  an  experiment  about  recovering  the 
ancient  independence  of  his  see ;  and,  in  order  to  this, 
he  puts  up  his  claim  against  the  archbishop  of  Canter 
bury.  The  case  was  determined  at  Rome,  and  the  bishop 
of  St.  David's  obliged  to  desist.1  Again,  Urbanus, 
bishop  of  Landaif,  endeavoured  to  recover  several  lord 
ships,  which  formerly  belonged  to  his  see,  but  since  had 
been  annexed  to  Hereford,  &c.  He  appealed  to  Rome, 
and,  having  engaged  pope  Honorius  in  his  favour,  suc 
ceeded  in  regaining  the  ancient  patrimony  of  his  church.2 
A  controversy  was  also  renewed  between  the  two  archi- 
episcopal  sees  of  Canterbury  and  York.  It  had  been  a 
custom,  ever  since  the  conquest,  for  the  archbishop  of 
York  to  make  a  promise  of  subjection  to  the  see  of  Can 
terbury,  upon  his  consecration.  It  was  frequently  con 
tested  ;  but,  when  the  point  was  brought  to  a  hearing, 
York  was  obliged  to  submit ;  only,  about  this  time,  one 
Thurstan,  being  consecrated  by  the  pope,  did  not  ob 
serve  that  formality.  Thurstan  was  a  prelate  of  eminent 
learning  and  virtue,  who,  having  held  the  see  of  York 
for  some  time,  retired,  and  died  a  monk  in  Pomfret 
monastery.3 

In  the  year  1 1 33,  Adelwald,  or  Athelwulph,  was  con 
secrated  the  first  bishop  of  Carlisle,  which  was  an  ancient 
city,  and,  in  the  Romans'  days,  called  Luguballia.  This 


1  Hoveden,  797 — 799,  ed.  Savile.      [Bernard  had  himself,  at  his  consecra 
tion,  sworn  obedience  to  the  see  of  Canterbury :  but,  on  the  death  of  the  arch 
bishop,  he  appealed  to  Rome,  and,  denying  his  former  promise  of  submission, 
claimed  to  be  exempt  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  primate.     The  promise,  how 
ever,  was  proved ;  and  the  claim,  as  regarded  the  individual  rights  of  the  ap 
pellant,  was,  consequently,  disallowed.     Still,  the   general  question  was  left 
undecided ;  nor  was  it,  until  the  well-known  Giraldus  Cambrensis  revived  the 
controversy,  in  1199,  that  the  point  was  finally  determined,  in  favour  of  Canter 
bury.— See  Eadmer,  116;  Girald.  apud  Ang.  Sac.  ii.  546,549,617;  Hoved. 
798,  799.— r.] 

2  [Flor.  Contin.  663.     In  the  former  edition,  Dodd,  by  mistake,  says  the  re- 
Verse  of  this.— T.] 

3  Eadmer,  1 17,  1 18,  120,  125,  126,  136.     Flor.  Contin.  674. 


90  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

city,  with  the  adjacent  country,  belonged  to  the  see  of 
Lindisfarne,  in  St.  Cuthbert's  time,  on  whom  they  were 
settled  by  king  Egfrid,  about  679.  About  900,  Carlisle 
was  utterly  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  and  not  rebuilt  till 
William  Rufus's  reign,  soon  after  1090.  He  placed  in 
it  a  colony  of  Flemings,  who,  by  an  inundation,  were 
obliged  to  forsake  their  own  country.  Some  English 
were  mixed  with  them,,  and  over  the  whole  he  appointed 
one  Walter,  a  Norman  priest,  in  quality  of  a  governor. 
This  Walter  founded  a  church  there,  which  he  dedicated 
to  the  honour  of  the  blessed  virgin  Mary ;  and,  had  not 
death  prevented  him,  his  design  was  to  have  increased 
the  foundation  by  the  erection  of  a  college.  After 
wards,  in  Henry  I.'s  reign,  Walter's  design  was  carried 
on,  though  not  in  the  manner  he  intended ;  for,  instead 
of  a  college,  it  became  a  monastery  of  regular  canons, 
Adelwald,  then  prior  of  St.  Oswald's  in  Nostlis,  and 
confessor  to  Henry  I.,  being  made  the  first  prior,  and, 
sometime  after,  the  first  bishop ;  which  was  done  by 
the  approbation,  and  with  the  concurrence,  of  Thurstan, 
archbishop  of  York,  to  whose  jurisdiction  it  formerly 
belonged.1 

It  is  observed  by  our  historians,  that  Ely  became  an 
episcopal  see,  about  1109,  and  that  one  Hervey,  trans 
lated  from  Bangor,  was  the  first  bishop.  It  does  not 
appear  of  what  antiquity  the  see  of  Bangor  was.  Her 
vey  is  the  first  bishop  taken  notice  of  in  history  ;  and 
yet  it  is  likely  there  were  others  before  him.  Some 
imagine,  that  the  catalogue  of  their  bishops  is  entirely 
lost.  If  we  may  be  permitted  to  guess,  Bangor  seems 
to  have  been  an  episcopal  see  of  an  ancient  standing. 
The  church  was  dedicated  to  St.  Daniel,  who  lived  in 
519,  and  he  might  be  bishop.2 

1135    King  Stephen,    who  next  got  possession  of  the 

crown,  was  nephew  to  Henry  I,  being  his  sister's 

son.     Both  he,  and  all  the  bishops  and  nobility,  had 

1  Godwin,  in  Episc.  Carl.  761. 

2  Selden,  in  Spicileg.  ad  Eadm.  209—212.     [Richards,  in  his  notes  on  God 
win,  has  shown  that  St.  Daniel  was  bishop  of  Bangor ;  and  he  has  farther  given 
the  names  of  two  of  Daniel's  successors,  Ellodu,  who  died  in  811,  and  Mordaf, 
or  Marclois,  whose  death  is  placed  by  Wynne  in  942.  De  Prsesul.  Ang.  p.  617. 
-TV] 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  91 

sworn  allegiance  to  the  empress  Maud,  upon  whom  the 
crown  was  settled  by  Henry ,  her  father  ;  yet,  afterwards, 
they  all  agreed  to  desert  her,  and  made  choice  of  Ste 
phen,  to  whom  they  promised  the  same  allegiance  ;  yet, 
conditionally,  that  he  should  oblige  himself,  by  oath,  to 
preserve  the  liberties  of  the  church  as  they  then  stood ; 
and  particularly,  that  he  should  not  seize  and  embezzle 
the  profits  of  ecclesiastical  benefices,  during  vacancies 
(as  had  been  too  frequently  practised  by  his  predeces 
sors),  but  that  they  should  be  reserved  for  the  benefit  of 
the  church,  especially  the  next  incumbent.     This  oath 
was  taken  by  king  Stephen,  in  the  presence  of  the  bishops 
and  the  pope's  legate,  and  approved  of  by  pope  Innocent 
II.,  whose  diploma  is  still  extant,  specifying  the  contents.1 
But  this  oath,  it  seems,  was  only  to  serve  a  turn,  and  to 
get  into  possession  of  the  crown  ;  for,  afterwards,  it  was 
violated,  in  every  particular  almost,  during  his  whole 
reign.2     He  seized  at  pleasure  upon  the  treasures  of  the 
church,  bestowed  the  revenues  upon  laymen,  sold  them 
to  strangers,  imprisoned  the  bishops,  and  forced  them 
to  surrender  their  lands ;  and,  by  these  methods,  threw 
the  whole  nation  into  the  utmost  confusion.     But  it  was 
not  long  before  the  empress  Maud  put  up  her  claim, 
and,  entering  England,  quickly  gathered  an  army  to 
support  it.      The  kingdom  became  divided  upon  this 
occasion,  and  great  numbers  both  of  the  bishops,  clergy, 
and  religious,  as  also  of  the  nobility,  took  part  with  the 
empress  Maud  ;  and,  by  way  of  justification,  some  al 
leged  the  obligation  of  their  former  oath  to  the  empress  ; 
others  alleged,  that  their  oath  to  Stephen  was  only  con 
ditional,  and  that  the  obligation  ceased,  the  king  not 
having  complied  with  his  part.     And  yet,  such  was  the 
complexion  of  those  times,  that  many  of  them  often 
changed  sides,  accordingly  as  success  attended  either 

1  Malmes.  179.  Juraverimt  fidelitatem  regi,  quamdiu  ille  libertatem  eeclesise 
et  vigorem  disciplina;  conservaret.  (ib.)     [Innocent's  letter  has  been  preserved 
by  Richard  of  Hexham.  (Dec.  script.  314.)     It  was  written  before  Henry  took 
the  oath  here  alluded  to,  and  refers  to  a  former  protestation,  made  at  the  time  of 
his  coronation. —  71.] 

2  Pene  omnia  ita  perperam  mutavit,  quasi  ad  hoc  tantum  jurasset,  ut  proeva- 
ricatorem  sacramenti  se  regnototi  ostenderet. — Malmesb.  179. 


92  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

party.     In  the  midst  of  these  distractions,,  the  king 
'J  gave  the  bishops  a  fresh  occasion  of  being  exaspe 
rated  against  him.     He  very  much  suspected,  that  some 
of  them  were  working  underhand  in  favour  of  the  em 
press  ;  wherefore,  by  way  of  prevention,  he  seized  upon 
several  of  their  houses  ;  especially  of  the  bishops  of  Salis 
bury,  Lincoln,  and  Ely,  wrhose  lands  and  castles  he  not 
only  took  from  them,  but  also  threw  them  into  prison. 
The  king  put  the  best  gloss  he  could  upon  the  fact,  pre 
tending,  that  what  he  had  done  was  not  out  of  any  dis 
respect  to  the  order,  or  design  upon  the  rights  of  the 
church,  but  only  to  secure  his  crown,  and  punish  the 
three  bishops  as  notorious  delinquents.     However,  the 
generality  of  the  bishops  were  alarmed  at  such  proceed 
ings,  which,  when  under  the  most  favourable  represen 
tation,  they  said,  were  illegal,  uncanonical,  and  tyran 
nical;  and,  therefore,  they  were  resolved  to  oppose  the 
king,  being  headed  by  Henry,  bishop  of  Winchester, 
who  was  the  king's  brother,  and  pope's  legate.1     Where 
fore,  a  synod  was  called,  to  examine  the  king's  right  in 
the  aforesaid  seizure  of  the  bishops'  houses  and  lands  ; 
the  bishop  of  Winchester  beforehand  declaring,   that, 
in  case  the  three  bishops  were  found  to  be  delinquents, 
it  belonged  to  an  ecclesiastical  synod  to  pronounce  upon 
the  matter.  The  synod  being  assembled,  the  king  was 
desired  to  assert  and  make  good  his  claim  to  the  castles 
and  lands  of  the  three  bishops.     Accordingly,  several 
of  the  courtiers  appeared,  some  whereof  were  managers 
for  the  king,  who  alleged  against  Roger,  bishop  of  Salis 
bury,  Alexander,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  Nigel,  bishop 
of  Ely,  that  they  had  been  delinquents  on  several  ac 
counts  ;  but,  more  particularly,  the  bishop  of  Salisbury 
was  impeached  for  having  favoured  and  corresponded 
with  the  king's  enemies,  and,  as  public  fame  gave  out, 
had  a  design  of  delivering  up  several  strong  castles  to 
the  empress  and  her  son :  that  he  was  not  imprisoned 

1  [He  was  invested  with  the  legatine  authority,  by  ahull  from  pope  Innocent 
II.,  dated  March  1st,  1 139  ;  William,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  late  legate, 
having  died  in  the  preceding  December  (Malmesb.  182.)  Wharton  erroneously 
dates  the  bull  in  1 131.  Ang.  Sac.  i.  792.— T.] 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  93 

as  a  bishop,  but  as  being  the  king's  subject  and  servant, 
and  one  of  the  ministry  ;  that  the  bishop  had  hoarded  up 
vast  sums  of  money  in  his  castles,  which  he  had  collected, 
when  he  was  prime-minister,  in  the  late  reign,  and  which 
ought  now  to  be  brought  into  the  treasury ;  that, 
in  fine,  the  bishops'  castles  were  not  wrested  out  of 
their  hands  by  force,  but  were  spontaneously  surren 
dered  by  their  owners,  as  a  compromise  for  a  riot,  which 
the  prelates  had  excited  at  Oxford.  What  the  bishop 
of  Salisbury  replied  to  these  allegations  was,  a  flat  denial 
of  the  matters  of  fact ;  and,  as  to  the  king's  reasons  and 
apprehensions,  he  hoped  the  synod  would  consider 
them,  and  do  him  justice,  otherwise  he  knew  how  to 
appeal  to  a  higher  tribunal.  Then  the  bishop  of  Win 
chester,  the  pope's  legate,  delivered  himself  to  the  fol 
lowing  effect :  that  controversies  of  this  kind  properly 
belonged  to  an  ecclesiastical  synod  ;  that  the  facts  al 
leged  against  the  bishops  ought  to  be  proved  by  wit 
nesses;  and  that,  till  matters  were  legally  and  canoni- 
cally  decided,  the  bishops  ought  to  remain  in  possession 
of  their  castles  and  lands ;  a  method  always  observed,  in 
all  nations,  where  justice  was  regarded.  Two  days  after, 
the  archbishop  of  Rouen  made  his  appearance  in  the 
synod,  who,  after  a  zealous  harangue  in  favour  of  the 
king,  declared  it  to  be  his  opinion,  that  bishops  ought 
not  to  be  in  possession  of  castles,  or  places  of  strength, 
as  being  a  practice  contrary  to  the  canons  of  the  church. 
He  added,  that  though  those  castles  were  the  property 
of  the  bishops,  yet,  considering  the  state  of  affairs,  and 
the  present  contest  about  succession  to  the  crown,  the 
keys  of  such  places  ought  to  be  delivered  up  into  the 
king's  hands.  This  declaration  of  the  archbishop  of 
Rouen  was  seconded  and  supported  by  Alberic  de  Vere, 
one  of  the  king's  managers,  who,  after  several  tart  ex 
pressions  against  the  bishops,  gave  out  several  threat 
ening  words,  if  they  offered  to  appeal  to  Rome ;  and,  at 
the  same  time,  gave  them  to  understand,  that  the  king 
now  formally  appealed  to  that  tribunal  himself.  The 
synod  was  inclinable  to  have  proceeded  to  ecclesiastical 
censures,  in  favour  of  the  bishops ;  but  what  deterred 


94  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

them  was,  they  had  no  precedent  to  let  censures  loose 
against  a  crowned  head,  without  the  pope's  licence  : 
besides,  it  was  observed,  during  the  sitting  of  the  synod, 
that  some  of  the  king's  party  began  to  lay  their  hands 
upon  their  swords.  These  were  dangerous  symptoms, 
which  required  caution  and  forbearance.  In  the  con 
clusion,  the  synod  broke  up  and  nothing  was  done. 
Afterwards,  the  pope's  legate  and  the  archbishop  made 
the  king  a  visit  in  his  apartment,  where  they  both  fell 
down  upon  their  knees  before  him,  beseeching  him  to 
have  a  regard  to  the  church,  to  his4 fame,  and  to  the 
good  of  his  soul,  and  not  to  suffer  things  to  run  to  such 
extremes,  as  to  have  a  breach  made  between  the  regal 
and  sacerdotal  power.  The  king,  with  a  great  deal  of 
respect,  desired  them  to  rise.  He  used  some  words,  to 
take  off  the  invidious  part  of  the  controversy  ;  but  the 
civil  war,  he  was  continually  engaged  in  against  the 
empress,  would  not  permit  him  to  be  very  obliging  to 
the  bishops,  especially  to  those  that  opposed  him,  whose 
revenues  he  made  bold  with,  as  often  as  he  had  occasion.1 
The  contest  for  the  crown,  between  king  Stephen  and 
the  empress,  lasted  fourteen  years,  which  afforded  great 
variety,  both  as  to  politics  and  war.  The  empress  some 
times  seemed  to  have  entirely  gained  the  cause  ;  but  the 
revolt  of  some  person  of  note,  or  some  unexpected 
stratagem,  backened  her  affairs  again,  which  anon  she 
recovered :  and  it  is  generally  believed,  that  her  haughty 
behaviour,  at  those  times  she  was  successful,  so  disgusted 
the  English,  that  they  neglected  her  interest,  by  way  of 
resentment.  For  what  would  she  not  do,  when  placed 
upon  the  throne,  who  durst  show  herself  imperious, 
while  she  was  struggling  for  it  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
king  Stephen's  behaviour  was  far  from  giving  content ; 
and,  as  long  as  a  competitor  was  living,  he  could  pro 
mise  himself  neither  security  nor  ease.  Besides,  his 
affairs  went  ill  abroad ;  he  was  threatened  both  from 
Scotland  and  France,  whose  interest  it  was,  to  favour 
the  empress  upon  the  present  juncture.  Wherefore, 

1  Malmesh.  181—183. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  95 

Henry,  bishop  of  Winchester,  with  some  others,  then 
the  greatest  men  in  power,  and  who  had  managed  a  re 
serve  with  both  parties  (and,  indeed,  sometimes  changed 
sides),  being  willing  to  see  an  end  of  the  calamities  of 
their  country,  effected  a  reconciliation,  in  the  year  1 153  ; 
the  substance  whereof  was,  that  king  Stephen  was  to 
enjoy  the  crown  for  life,  and  afterwards,  Henry,  son  to 
the  empress.  The  remainder  of  king  Stephen's  reign, 
the  church  was  at  ease,  and,  in  a  great  measure,  freed 
from  that  oppression  it  had  so  long  groaned  under. 
King  Stephen  died  in  1154,  having  reigned  in  all 
nineteen  years.1 

It  is  scarcely  credible,  that  a  nation,  distracted  by 
continual  wars,  should  give  so  much  attention  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  as  we  find  was  done,  during  this  reign. 
Both  the  king  and  his  subjects  left  behind  them  many 
monuments  of  their  zeal  that  way.  The  king  himself 
founded  Cogshall  abbey,  in  Essex ;  Furness  abbey,  in 
Lancashire ;  and  Feversham  abbey,  in  Kent :  again, 
a  monastery  of  nuns  at  Carew,  and  one  of  nuns  at 
Higham,  near  Gravesend,  with  a  church,  which  he 
attached  to  St.  Leonard's  hospital,  near  the  west-gate 
in  the  city  of  York.  By  his  queen  was  founded  the 
noble  hospital  of  St.  Catharine's,  near  the  tower  of 
London.  Then,  as  to  the  religious  foundations  erected 
by  his  subjects  ;  there  was  the  monastery  for  nuns,  at 
Hegham,  or  Heningham,  in  Essex,  founded  by  Alberic 
de  Vere  ;  the  priory  of  St.  John's,  in  Litchfield,  and  the 
monastery  of  Bildewas,  for  Cistercians,  by  Roger,  bishop 
of  Litchfield  and  Coventry  ;  the  Cistercian  abbey  of 
Thame,  in  Buckinghamshire,  by  Sir  Robert  Gait ;  the 
double  monastery  of  Haverholme,  and  the  priory  of 
Gilbertins,  called  St.  Catharine's,  near  Lincoln,  by  Alex 
ander  and  Robert,  successively  bishops  of  that  see  ;  St. 
Cross,  a  noble  foundation  or  hospital,  near  Winchester, 
by  Henry,  bishop  of  Winchester  (it  formerly  had  been 
a  monastery  destroyed  by  the  Danes)  ;  Boxley  abbey,  in 
Kent,  by  William  of  Ypres ;  St.  Augustin's  monastery, 

1  Ibid.  183—190.     Flor.  Contin.  677.     Gervase,  1363,  1371.     Hunt.  398. 


96  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i, 

in  Bristol,  by  Robert  Fitzharding ;  the  priory  of  Wy- 
mundham,  by  William  de  Albini,  the  king's  butler ;  the 
abbey  of  Merival,  by  Robert  earl  Ferrers  ;  and  the 
abbey  of  Finchal,  by  Hugh  Pudsey,  otherwise  called 
Pusar,  or  de  Puteaco,  who  was  bishop  of  Durham,  and 
nephew  to  king  Stephen.  This  bishop  also  built  Dar 
lington  church,  and  founded  two  hospitals,  one  at 
Allerton,  the  other  called  Sherbourn,  situated  at  the 
east- end  of  Durham,  which  last  was  capable  of  affording 
a  maintenance  for  sixty-five  poor,  besides  a  competency 
for  several  priests.  Bishop  Pudsey,  for  a  time,  bore  the 
title  of  earl  of  Northumberland.1 

I  will  conclude  this  reign,  having  first  mentioned  the 
names  of  a  few  remarkable  persons,  who  deserve  to  be 
remembered.  Theobald,  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
died  about  1160,  but  flourished  in  this  reign.  It  is  re 
lated  of  him,  that  he  left  all  his  substance  to  the  poor, 
or  to  be  distributed  in  works  of  piety.  One  Walter  was 
bishop  of  Rochester,  elected  by  the  monks ;  whereas, 
before,  the  bishop  was  usually  nominated  by  the  arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury.2  William,  nephew  to  king  Ste 
phen,  was  archbishop  of  York,  a  person  of  approved 
virtue,  who  died  in  the  year  1154.  His  name  stands  in 
the  calendar,  among  the  saints.  It  was  commonly  re 
ported,  that  he  lost  his  life  by  poison,  thrown  into  the 
chalice ;  Hoveden  says,  by  making  use  of  some  poisoned 
water;  but  Nubrigensis  confutes  both  these  reports.3 
In  these  days,  also,  lived  Roger,  archbishop  of  York. 
He  is  taken  notice  of  for  being  no  great  friend  to  the 
monks,  neither  do  they  write  very  favourably  of  him.  It 
seems,  he  did  not  very  much  approve  of  his  predecessor, 
Thurstan,  founding  the  abbey  of  Fountain's ;  not,  as  I 
suppose,  by  quarrelling  with  the  substance  of  that  pious 
work,  but,  perhaps,  because  Thurstan  had  failed  in  the 

1  Dugd.  Monast.  i.  eiii.  in  locis.    Tanner,  310.    Godwin  in  vit.  Hen.  Wint., 
Roger  Covent.  et  Hug.  Dunelm.  216,  313,  735. 

2  [By  *  nominated,'   Dodd  evidently  means  appointed,  an  assertion  which, 
though  adopted  from  Godwin,  is  erroneous.     The  ancient  custom  was.  for  the 
archbishop  to  nominate,  and  for  the  monks  to  elect.     This  custom  was  observed 
at  the  election  of  Walter.     "  Secundum  antiguam  consuetudinem,  electus  est  a 
monachis  Rofa3."     Gervase,  1362.— 7VJ 

3  Hoved.  490.     Newbrig.  lib.  i.  c.  26. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  97 

prudent  part,  as  to  the  manner.  However,  the  monks 
charged  Roger  with  covetousness,  and  I  know  not  what ; 
but  his  charitable  actions  were  sufficient  to  wipe  off 
that  aspersion.1  I  must  not  forget  to  mention  Nicholas 
Breakespear,  an  Englishman,  who  had  been  brought  up 
in  the  abbey  of  St.  Alban's,  was  made  cardinal  bishop 
of  Albano,  in  1 146,  and  lived  in  this  and  the  succeeding 
reign.  He  had  been  sent,  with  legatirie  authority,  into 
Norway,  where  he  won  the  confidence  and  affection  of 
the  natives.  He  was  afterwards  chosen  pope,  arid  took 
the  name  of  Adrian  IV.  He  had  a  great  controversy 
with  the  citizens  of  Rome,  who  attempted  to  become 
independent,  and  withdraw  themselves  from  his  juris 
diction,  as  to  temporals  ;  as  also  with  the  emperor, 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  about  investitures  and  other 
matters.  It  was  ordered  by  pope  Adrian  IV,  that  the 
abbey  of  St.  Albans  should  have  the  preference  to  all 
others  in  England.  He  died  in  the  year  1159.2 

Henry  II,  the  son  of  Maud,  the  empress,  by  Geof 
frey,  earl  of  Anjou,  was,  according  to  agreement, 
to  possess  the  crown,  upon  the  decease  of  king  Ste 
phen  ;  which  happened  without  any  opposition,  and  to 
the  general  liking  of  the  subjects.  He  was  a  prince 
thoroughly  qualified  for  the  dignity,  yet  so  apt  to  be 
hurried  away  by  his  passions,  that  they  engaged  him  in 
several  controversies,  which  gave  him  great  disturbance, 
during  his  whole  reign.3  In  the  beginning,  he  had  a 
tedious  contest  about  the  liberties  of  the  church,  in 
which  he  was  opposed  by  Thomas  Becket,  who,  having 
been  made  chancellor  of  England,  in  the  year  1 157,  was 
by  king  Henry  preferred  to  the  see  of  Canterbury,  in 
1 1 62.  This  prelate  wTas  a  person  of  primitive  behaviour, 
as  to  the  integrity  of  his  life,  and,  withal,  a  zealous 
assertor  of  ecclesiastical  liberties,  w^hich  the  whisperers 
of  the  court  represented  to  be  nothing  else,  but  a  cloak 

1  Godwin  de  Pnesul.  71,  527,671—675. 

2  Gul.  Newbr.  1. 2,  c.  6;  Baronius,  ad  an.  1148,  1154,  1159. 

3  King  Henry  II.  had  several  disputes  with  the  see  of  Rome,  concerning  juris 
diction,  hut  never  in  matters  purely  spiritual;  and,  had  it  been  about  things  of 
that  kind,  such  instances  are  no  more  proofs  against  the  pope's  claim,  than 
instances  of  rebellion  are  proofs  against  the  regal  power. 

VOL.  I.  H 


98  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

for  avarice,  ambition,  and  hypocrisy  ;  and  these  things 
being  intimated  to  the  king,  he  gave  some  kind  of 
credit  to  them,  or,  at  least,  they  were  of  service  to  him, 
and  popular  topics,  when  any  dispute  arose  between 
him  and  the  archbishop.  I  will  pass  over  in  silence  the 
particulars,  it  being  a  difficult  matter  for  an  historian 
not  to  show  something  of  partiality  in  the  relation,  and 
not  a  little  presumption  to  chalk  out  the  boundaries  of 
the  two  powers,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  which  (except 
ing  what  Christ  himself  has  established  in  that  regard) 
are  various,  according  to  the  customs  and  laws  of 
nations.1  Whatever,  therefore,  was,  or  may  be,  said  as 

1  [The  dispute  to  which  Dodd  here  alludes,  but  on  which  he  is  evidently  afraid 
to  express  his  real  opinion,  related,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  criminal  juris 
diction  of  the  spiritual  courts.  By  a  custom,  originally  borrowed  from  the  im 
perial  code,  a  clergyman,  accused  of  murder,  felony,  or  any  other  crime,  could, 
for  the  first  offence,  be  tried  only  by  the  spiritual  judge,  and,  as  a  consequence 
of  this,  could  be  punished  only  by  the  minor  inflictions  of  flagellation,  fine,  im 
prisonment,  and  degradation.  In  opposition  to  this,  however,  Henry  insisted 
that  the  offender  should  be  first  degraded  by  the  ordinary,  and  then  delivered  to 
the  secular  judge,  to  be  tried  and  punished  by  the  civil  power.  The  archbishop 
resisted  the  innovation:  Henry,  to  revenge  himself,  increased  his  demands; 
and  the  attack,  which  had  hitherto  been  levelled  at  one  privilege,  was  soon 
directed  against  many.  The  king  summoned  a  council  to  meet  him  at  Claren 
don.  Under  pretence  of  enforcing  "  the  ancient  customs  of  the  realm,"  he 
directed  a  body  of  "  Constitutions"  to  be  drawn  up,  and  presented  to  the  bishops 
for  their  signatures.  In  them,  he  asserted  the  incompetence  of  the  spiritual 
courts,  in  cases  of  criminal  jurisprudence;  he  claimed  the  custody  of  all  vacant 
benefices  of  royal  foundation  ;  he  exempted  the  principal  officers  and  tenants  of 
the  crown  from  the  spiritual  censures  of  the  church ;  he  forbade  any  clergyman 
to  go  beyond  the  sea,  without  the  permission  of  the  sovereign  ;  and  he  ordered 
all  spiritual  causes  to  be  terminated  in  the  archbishop's  court,  so  as  to  exclude 
the  ancient  right  of  appeal  to  the  decision  of  the  pope.  Of  these  "  customs," 
one,  though  often  claimed,  had  never  been  recognized ;  another  had  been  spe 
cially  renounced  by  the  king  himself;  and  all  were  more  or  less  opposed  to  the 
oath,  which  he  had  taken  at  his  coronation,  to  preserve  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  English  church.  Becket  at  first  refused  to  accept  them :  then  he  con 
sented  ;  and  then  finally  repented  of  his  compliance.  To  escape  the  vengeance 
of  the  king,  he  retired  into  France.  Here,  however,  the  contest  was  still  main 
tained  ;  and  more  than  six  years  of  alternate  threats  and  negotiations  were 
consumed,  before  a  reconciliation  could  be  effected.  At  length,  this  object  was 
apparently  accomplished,  and  the  archbishop  returned  to  his  diocese.  But, 
unfortunately,  he  had  listened  to  the  suggestions  of  imprudence,  if  not  of  re 
sentment.  He  had  arrived  at  Whitsand,  on  his  way  to  England,  when,  in  a 
moment  of  irritation,  he  despatched  a  messenger,  with  letters  of  suspension,  or 
excommunication,  against  the  three  prelates  of  York,  London,  and  Salisbury, 
who  had  ventured,  in  his  absence,  to  officiate  at  the  coronation  of  the  king's  son. 
The  bishops,  as  might  have  been  expected,  were  loud  in  their  complaints :  they 
denounced  the  act  as  an  evidence  of  his  vindictive  disposition ;  and,  hastening 
into  Normandy,  they  presented  themselves  before  Henry,  and  besought  him  to 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  99 

to  these  matters,  in  regard  of  the  equitable  part,  the 
consequence  was  fatal  to  the  archbishop,  who  was  mur 
dered  by  some  of  the  king's  adherents  ;  in  which  his 
majesty  was  no  farther  concerned,  than  by  dropping  a 
passionate  word,  which  they  took  to  be  a  commission 
to  commit  that  barbarous  fact.  And,  indeed,  the  king 
looked  upon  himself  to  be  chargeable  with  it ;  especially 
soon  after,  when  he  saw  so  many  calamities  flowing  in 
upon  him,  which  he  considered  as  a  punishment  from 
Heaven,  upon  account  of  the  long  persecution  and  death 
of  the  religious  archbishop.  The  ill  success  he  met  with, 
upon  the  committing  of  the  murder,  and  the  speedy  re 
trieving  of  his  glory,  upon  a  submission  for  the  crime, 
were  to  him  a  sufficient  conviction,  that  the  steps  he 
had  taken,  in  the  affair  of  Thomas  Becket,  were  not  at 
all  pleasing  to  Almighty  God.  He  who,  just  before,  had 
been  victorious  over  all  his  enemies,  and  had  extended 

control  the  tyranny  of  the  primate.  The  monarch  burst  into  a  paroxysm  of 
rage.  He  bewailed  his  unhappy  situation  :  he  upbraided  the  indolence,  or  the 
cowardice  of  his  dependants ;  and  he  passionately  inquired  if  no  one  could  be 
found,  to  free  him  from  the  turbulence  of  a  single  prelate  ? — In  less  than  three 
weeks,  it  was  announced,  that  the  archbishop  had  been  murdered  (Diceto,  536, 
.537;  Stephan.  29,  33—35,48,  68,71,72;  Gul.  Newbr.  L  2,  c.  16 ;  Gervase, 
1384—1393,  1413—1417). 

Of  the  conduct  of  Becket,  in  this  transaction,  it  has  been  customary  to  speak, 
in  terms  either  of  unmitigated  censure,  or  of  unqualified  praise.  The  former  is 
unjust;  the  latter  is  unnecessary.  It  is  not  essential  to  sanctity,  that  nature 
should  be  free  from  imperfection:  nor  is  it  a  legitimate  subject  of  condemna 
tion  in  an  individual,  that  he  has  failed  to  rise  above  the  received  opinions  of 
his  age.  In  the  holiness  of  his  life,  in  the  purity  of  his  motives,  in  the  uncon- 
quered  energy  of  his  character,  Becket  stands  alone  among  his  contemporaries : 
in  his  judgments,  his  notions,  and  his  prejudices,  he  shares  the  weakness  of  his 
fellows,  and  sinks  to  the  level  of  those  about  him.  That  the  publication  of  the 
censures  against  the  three  bishops  was  unwise,  that  it  savoured  more  of  zeal 
than  of  prudence,  and  that  it  was,  in  fact,  the  immediate  occasion  of  his  murder, 
is  acknowledged  and  lamented  even  by  a  contemporary  and  a  panegyrist,  Wil 
liam  of  Newburgh  (1.  2,  c,  25).  Perhaps  also  a  similar  remark  will  apply  to  his 
conduct,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  dispute.  The  exemption  of  the  clergy  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  secular  courts,  though  undoubtedly  recognized  by  the 
established  usages  of  the  country,  was  open  to  the  most  serious  abuses.  Those 
abuses  had  lately  increased  :  they  had  grown  with  the  growing  turbulence  of 
the  time ;  and  it  ought  to  have  been  remembered,  that,  to  defend  the  immunities 
of  the  clerical  order,  was  of  less  importance  than  to  repress  the  crimes  of  its 
more  licentious  members.  Had  Becket  reasoned  in  this  manner,  he  might 
have  continued  to  enjoy  the  friendship  of  his  sovereign ;  and  one  pretext,  at 
least,  would  have  been  withdrawn  from  the  religious  innovators  of  the  sixteenth 
century.— TV] 

H  2 


100  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

his  power  by  several  new  acquisitions,  was  now  in  a 
fair  way  of  being  stripped  of  all.  His  sons,  Henry, 
Richard,  and  Geoffrey,  joined  in  confederacy,  and  raised 
a  rebellion  against  him,  in  his  foreign  dominions,  Nor 
mandy,  Aquitaine,  and  Little  Britain ;  who  were  sup 
ported  by  the  kings  of  France  and  Scotland,  and  the 
earl  of  Flanders.  All  these  princes  had  armies  ready 
to  fall  upon  him.  These  storms  had  threatened  the 
king  for  some  years  ;  but,  after  the  murder  of  the  arch 
bishop,  in  1170,  they  began  to  unite  and  hang  over  his 
head.  Now,  in  order  to  avert  these  evils,  procure 
peace  to  his  own  mind,  and  make  some  sort  of  atone 
ment  for  the  scandal  he  had  given  to  the  better  sort  of 
Christians,  in  the  affair  of  the  archbishop,  he  left  to  pos 
terity  a  surprising  example  of  humiliation ;  which,  in 
substance,  is  thus  related  by  our  historians.  The 

1  1  ^7zl 

king  took  a  resolution  to  visit  the  archbishop's 
tomb  at  Canterbury,  and  there  endeavour  to  make  him 
his  friend  after  he  was  dead,  who  never  had  been  other 
wise  while  he  was  alive,  any  farther  than  duty  and  zeal 
for  religion  had  engaged  him  to  be.  When  he  came 
within  three  miles  of  the  city,  and  sight  of  the  cathe 
dral,  he  dismounted  from  his  horse,  and,,  putting  on  a 
coarse  woollen  garment,  he  walked  barefoot  the  re 
mainder  of  the  way.  When  he  arrived  at  the  arch 
bishop's  tomb,  he  immediately  threw  himself  upon  the 
ground,  where  he  expressed  his  sorrow  in  a  flood  of 
tears  ;  and,  to  render  his  humiliation  more  remarkable, 
the  monks  and  priests  were  permitted,  at  his  request,  to 
scourge  him  with  whips.  Having  spent  the  rest  of  the 
night  in  prayer,  and,  in  the  morning,  attended  at  the 
sacrifice  of  the  mass,  he  gave  orders  that  very  rich  pre 
sents,  and  considerable  lands,  should  be  bestowed  upon 
the  church  of  Canterbury ;  and,  the  same  day,  returned 
to  London.  This  happened  in  the  year  1174.1  And 
now  Heaven,  being  pleased  with  this  heroic  act  of  reli 
gion,  could  not  long  defer  giving  demonstrations  of  it, 
by  the  success  of  his  majesty's  arms  ;  for  it  is  observed, 

1  Gul.  Newbr.  1.  2,  c.  34,  35  ;  Diceto,  576,  577 ;  Gervase,  1427  ;  Hoved.  539. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  101 

that,  the  very  same  day  that  he  prostrated  himself  at 
the  archbishop's  tomb,  a  very  small  body  of  his  troops 
routed  a  numerous  army  of  the  Scots.,  and  took  their 
king  prisoner ;  and,  not  long  after,  the  king  being  in 
formed  that  his  three  rebellious  sons,  in  conjunction 
with  the  king  of  France,  had  laid  siege  to  Rouen,  he 
posted  thither,  broke  through  the  enemy's  camp,  and 
raised  the  siege.  This  success  was  followed  by  an  en 
tire  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and  he  was  reconciled 
to  his  sons,  upon  terms  honourable  to  himself,  though 
much  more  favourable  to  his  children  than  their  beha 
viour  had  deserved.1  About  the  same  time,  also,  peace 
was  concluded  with  Scotland;  when  both  king  William, 
and  his  brother  David,  whom  king  Henry  had  kept 
sometime  prisoners,  were  released  ;  yet,  upon  conditions 
that  Scotland  paid  homage  to  England,  as  they  had  done 
more  than  once,  in  former  reigns ;  and,  moreover,  that 
the  Scotch  bishops  should  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  church  of  England.2 

About  the  year  1 1 76,  there  might  have  been  a  quar 
rel  between  the  king  and  the  see  of  Rome,  had  there 
not  been  some  condescension  on  one  side.  Pope  Alex 
ander  III.  sent  his  legate,  cardinal  Vivianus,  towards 
Scotland,  where  he  was  to  regulate  some  matters  that 
were  amiss  there,  and  in  the  adjacent  islands  ;  and  hap 
pening  to  touch  in  England  without  the  king's  leave, 
his  majesty  deputed  Richard,  bishop  of  Winchester,  and 
Geoffrey,  bishop  of  Ely,  to  question  him  about  his  busi 
ness.  The  cardinal  appeared  somewhat  alarmed  at  the 
message  ;  but,  having  promised  by  oath,  that  he  would 
not  exercise  his  legatine  power  without  the  king's  leave, 


1  Newbr.  1.  2,  c.  35,  36 ;  Diceto,  578,  579,  586  ;  Gervase,  1427;  Hoved.  540. 

2  Hoved.  545.     ["  Concessit  autem  rex  Scotiae  domino  regi  quod  ecclesia 
Scotiae  talem  subjectionem  amodo  faciet  ecclesiae  Ang-liae,  qualem  illi  faeere 
debet,  et  solebat  tempore  regum  Angliae,  predecessorum  suorum."      (Ibid.) 


finally 

blished  the  latter  in  immediate  dependence  on  the  Roman  see.  "  Ut  Scotticana 
ecclesia  apostolicae  sedi,  cujus  filia  specialis  existit,  nullo  mediante,  debeat  sub- 
jacere."— Ibid.  651.— TV] 


102  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

he  was  permitted  to  proceed  in  his  journey.1  In  the 
following;  year,  pope  Alexander  III.  sent  Peter,  a  cardi 
nal  priest,  of  the  title  of  St.  Chrysogonus,  into  France, 
with  instructions  to  put  Normandy,  and  other  provinces 
belonging  to  the  king  of  England,  under  an  interdict,  if 
he  refused  to  confirm  the  promise  of  marriage,  solemnly 
agreed  to  between  Richard,  son  of  king  Henry,  and 
Alecia,  daughter  to  Louis,  king  of  France  ;  but  king 
Henry  appealing  to  the  pope  immediately,,  and  his  rea 
sons  being  considered,  the  legate  returned  re  infectd. 
However,  the  breach  was  made  up  between  the  two 
kings,  who,  soon  after,  mutually  tied  themselves  by 
oath  to  engage  in  the  holy  war.2  In  the  year  1 1 83,  some 

1  Juravit  regi,  quod  ipse  nihil  ageret  in  legatione  sua,  contra  voluntatem 
ipsius ;  et  sic  data  est  ei  licentia  transeundi  usque  in  Scotiam.     Hoved.  553. 

2  Hoved.  570 ;  Gervase,  1442. — [To  this  period  belongs  the  dispute,  between 
Richard,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  the  monks  of  St.  Augustine's,  which,  as 
offering  an  early  instance  of  the  dissensions,  produced  by  the  exemption  of  the 
religious  houses  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinaries,  I  may  here  be  permitted 
to  mention.     On  the  deposition  of  Clarembold,  the  last  abbot,  Roger,  a  monk  of 
Christ-church,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.     To  complete  the  appointment, 
however,  it  was  necessary  to  procure  the  benediction  of  the  primate:   but 
the  prelate  required,  the  monk  refused,  the  usual  promise  of  canonical  obe 
dience;  and  Roger,  to   vindicate  the  pretended  immunities  of  his   house, 
immediately  carried  the  cause  to  Rome.     The  pope — it  was  Alexander  III. — 
decided  in  favour  of  the  appellant.     By  letters  addressed  both  to  Roger  and 
to  the  archbishop,  he  declared  that  the  monks  in  question  were  subject  only 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  holy  see :    he  commanded  the  primate  forthwith  to 
bless  the  new  abbot,  without  the  required  promise  of  obedience;    and   he 
informed  him,  that,  in  case  he  should  refuse  or  neglect  to  execute  this  in 
junction,  within  the  next  thirty  days,  the  bishop  of  Worcester  had  already 
received  directions  to  perform  the  ceremony  in  his  stead.     But  Richard  was 
not  disposed  to  surrender  the  canonical  rights  of  his  see.     When  the  thirty 
days  had  expired,  nothing  had  been  done :  and  when  the  bishop  of  Worcester 
was  summoned  to  discharge  his  commission,  it  was  discovered  that  the  king  had 
forbidden  him  to  interfere,  in  derogation  of  the  privileges  of  his  metropolitan. 
Roger  was  now  again  compelled  to  return  to  Rome.     The  commands  of  the 
pontiff  had  been  disregarded ;  the  hostility  of  the  king  had  been  provoked ;  and 
the  hope  either  of  concession,  or  of  submission,  was  now  at  an  end.     As  a  last 
resource,  Alexander,  with  his  own  hand,  conferred  the  necessary  benediction  on 
the  new  abbot— Gervase,  1444 — 1446 ;  Thorn,  1819—1826. 

But,  if  the  primate  was  thus  defeated  on  one  point,  he  was  still  resolved,  if 
possible,  to  vindicate  his  authority  on  others.  The  privileges,  exercised  by  the 
monks,  were  neither  limited  to  their  own  precincts,  nor  confined  to  the  members 
of  their  own  body.  They  claimed  the  custody  of  all  vacant  churches  on  the 
lands  of  the  abbey :  they  asserted  the  right  of  instituting  to  all  benefices  be 
longing  to  their  presentation;  and  they  insisted  that  every  clergyman  attached 
to  their  livings,  every  tenant  and  servant  connected  with  the  property  of  the 
house,  should  share  their  own  exemption  from  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the 
archbishop.  Richard  refused  to  acknowledge  these  immunities :  the  monks,  to 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  103 

malecontents,  in  the  king's  dominions  abroad,,  had 
stirred  up  the  king's  sons  to  attempt  another  revolt ; 
upon  which  account,  the  king  ordered  a  great  number 
of  nobility,  bishops,  and  abbots,  to  assemble  at  Caen, 
in  Normandy,  where  some  of  the  English  prelates  were 
present.  At  this  assembly,  ecclesiastical  censures  were 
pronounced  against  all,  that  were  concerned  against  the 
king.  Henry,  the  king's  eldest  son,  died  the  same  year, 
and  repented  sincerely  for  his  disobedience ;  and,  three 
years  after,  in  1186,  Geoffrey  being  killed  by  a  fall  from 
his  horse,  there  was  an  end  of  those  troubles.  In  the 
year  1189,  Philip  Augustus,  king  of  France,  having 
proclaimed  war  against  king  Henry  II,  pope  Clement 
III.  sent  John  Anagninus,  cardinal,  and  apostolic  legate, 
to  make  up  matters  between  them.  He  had  orders  to 
put  France  under  an  interdict,  if  their  king  refused  to 
hearken  to  reasonable  terms  :  but  Philip  had  no  regard 
to  such  threats,  alleging,  that  he  knewT  the  strength  of 
his  own  pretensions,  and  that  the  see  of  Rome  had  no 

enforce  them,  appealed,  as  usual,  to  Rome ;  and  a  commission  was  at  length 
named,  to  examine  the  several  charters  of  the  abbey,  and  decide  between  the 
conflicting  claims  of  the  two  parties.  But  the  commission  was  not  deemed  suf 
ficiently  favourable  to  the  religious.  A  series  of  delays,  and  evasions,  and 
frivolous  objections,  was  followed  by  another  appeal.  Another  commission  was 
issued:  the  judges  assembled  at  St.  Saviour's  monastery,  in  Bermondsey;  and 
the  monks  were  ordered  to  produce  their  charters,  for  the  inspection  of  the 
court.  Of  these  boasted  instruments,  however,  few  were  to  be  discovered.  The 
grants  of  the  popes,  Gregory,  Adeodatus,  and  John,  which  had  been  appealed 
to,  were  nowhere  to  be  found :  those  of  Agatho,  and  Boniface  IV.,  had  been 
taken,  so  it  was  said,  to  Rome,  on  the  occasion  of  the  last  appeal ;  had  been 
privately  exhibited  to  the  pope,  after  the  departure  of  the  archbishop's  agents ; 
and  had  been  retained  in  the  custody  of  the  pontiff,  to  prevent  their  being  lost 
on  their  way  home.  Two  only  were  produced ;  one  purporting  to  be  the  charter 
of  the  founder,  the  other,  the  grant  originally  made  by  St.  Austin ;  but  both 
bearing  on  their  face  the  strongest  evidence  of  forgery.  These  were  transcribed 
by  the  commissioners,  and  embodied  in  a  report,  which  was  drawn  up,  and 
forwarded  to  Rome.  Before  it  could  arrive,  however,  Alexander  was  dead :  a 
fresh  appeal  was  lodged  in  the  presence  of  his  successor,  Lucius ;  and  another 
protracted,  and  perhaps  useless  investigation  was  about  to  commence,  when  the 
king,  anxious  to  terminate  the  contest,  ordered  the  monks  to  submit.  A  form 
of  agreement  was  now  drawn  up,  and  signed.  In  it,  the  abbot,  on  the  part  of 
his  brethren,  renounced  the  most  obnoxious  of  the  claims ;  and,  in  return,  re 
ceived  from  the  archbishop  a  permission  to  take  charge  of  all  vacant  benefices 
belonging  to  the  abbey,  and  an  assurance,  that,  during  his  tenure  of  the  abbacy, 
the  disputed  question  of  obedience  should  be  waived.  Thus,  for  the  present, 
closed  a  controversy,  which,  in  various  forms,  was  too  soon,  and  too  frequently, 
to  be  revived.— Gervase,  1458;  Thorn,  1830— 1837.— TV] 


104  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i, 

right  to  pronounce  upon  matters  of  that  kind.  This 
proved  an  unsuccessful  war  to  Henry  II,  which,  toge 
ther  with  the  unkind  behaviour  of  his  sons,  preyed  so 
upon  his  spirits,  that  he  became  melancholic,  and 
died  not  long  after,  having  first  disposed  himself 
for  his  exit,  by  confession,  and  receiving  the  sacrament. 
This  was  the  end  of  this  great  prince,  whose  reign 
affords  us  instances  both  of  good  and  evil.  In  regard 
of  his  bad  qualities,  historians  tell  us  that  he  oppressed 
the  church  for  a  considerable  time  ;  that  the  death  of 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  is  a  flaw  in  his  character ; 
that  he  loved  women,  to  the  injury  of  conjugal  right ; 
that  he  was  not  a  little  covetous,  and  encouraged  the 
Jews  in  their  extorting  methods,  whereby  he  was  sup 
plied  with  money,  to  the  great  oppression  of  the  subject ; 
that  he  kept  episcopal  sees,  and  other  spiritual  dignities, 
vacant  for  a  long  time,  purposely  to  increase  the  trea 
sury.  In  regard  of  his  good  qualities,  they  tell  us,  that, 
besides  those  that  were  personal,  and  which  nature  had 
enriched  him  with,  he  was  just  to  the  greatest  nicety, 
where  private  property  was  concerned  ;  that  he  loved 
churchmen  in  general,  and  was  desirous  they  should 
flourish,  of  which  there  cannot  be  a  greater  proof,  than 
the  care  he  took  to  have  them  excepted  in  the  cases 
of  a  general  tax  ;  that  he  never  lay  hard  upon  the  sub 
ject  in  any  tax,  but  when  the  public  good  urged  him  to 
it,  unless  the  decimation  for  carrying  on  the  holy  war 
may  be  reckoned  as  an  instance  of  oppression.2  Not 
only  the  church  of  England,  but  the  peace  of  the  univer 
sal  church,  were  his  care,  as  it  appears  by  his  opposing 
all  schismatical  proceedings  ;  and  in  particular,  by  his 
being  one  of  the  first  that  acknowledged  Alexander  III. 
to  be  truly  elected.3  His  zeal  for  religion  engaged  him 

Hoved.  619,  620,  631,  652,  654. 


2  Newbrig.  1.  3.  c.  26. 


3  Newbrig.  1.  2.  c.  9.  The  controversy,  between  king  Henry  II.  and  arch 
bishop  Becket,  was  carried  on  with  due  respect  to  the  see  of  Rome  ;  for,  though 
three  anti-popes  were  successively  put  up  by  the  emperor,  Frederick  Barbarossa, 
who  maintained  a  schism  for  seventeen  years,  yet  he  never  could  prevail 
on  king  Henry  II.  to  take  part  against  Alexander  III.,  the  true  pope ;  and 
though  Henry  often  refused  the  mediation  of  the  pope's  legates,  yet,  at  the 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  105 

in  the  holy  war,  where  he  designed  personally  to  have 
shown  his  conduct  and  bravery  ;  but  domestic  troubles 
diverted  him,  and  death  prevented  him.  He  was  a  great 
friend  to  all  religious  orders  ;  especially,  the  Cistercians, 
Monks  of  Cluny,  Knights  Templars,  and  Carthusians, 
were  partakers  of  his  favours.  One  instance,  of  St. 
Hugh,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  was  preferred  by  him 
merely  upon  account  of  his  holy  life,  is  a  sufficient  proof 
that  he  was  as  good  a  judge  of  true  merit,  as  he  was 
willing  to  reward  it.  Those  that  are  desirous  to  be  more 
fully  informed  of  his  good  dispositions,  may  be  satisfied 
from  the  large  alms  he  ordered  by  his  last  will,  which 
bears  date  in  the  year  1182.1 

The  reader  may  observe  all  along,  in  the  lives  of  our 
kings,  that,  though  they  sometimes  oppressed  the  church, 
by  making  a  market  of  the  ecclesiastical  dignities,  yet 
they  always  took  care  to  preserve  them,  and  multiply 
all  sorts  of  pious  foundations  ;  which  were  very  useful, 
not  only  on  account  of  religion,  arid  a  future  state,  but 
also  to  answer  the  best  purposes  of  this  life.  And,  in 
this,  king  Henry  II.  imitated  the  good  example  of  his 
predecessors,  by  founding  or  endowing  several  religious 
communities;  for  instance,  Stanley  priory  ;  St.  Martin's 
priory,  in  Dover ;  Basingwark  priory  ;  Witham  priory 
of  Carthusians ;  the  abbey  of  Fontevraud,  in  Normandy ; 
he  also  placed  regular  canons  at  Waltham,  formerly 
held  by  seculars.  His  mother  founded  Bordesly  abbey. 
Then,  the  following  establishments  had  their  rise  from 
others,  in  his  reign  :  Westwood,  or  Lesnes,  in  Kent,  in 
honour  of  St.  Thomas,  was  founded  by  lord  Lucy  ;  Wig- 
more  monastery,  by  Hugh  Mortimer  ;  the  priory  of  St. 

same  time,  he  appealed  to  the  pope :  "  Appellavit  pro  se,  et  regno  suo,  ad 
presentiam  summi  pontificis."  Hoveden,  515.  There  are  several  other  instances 
of  the  same  kind;  as  when  he  desired  the  pope  to  exercise  his  spiritual  power 
against  his  rebellious  sons :  "  Vestrae  j  urisdictionis  est  regnum  Anglise,  &c. ;  expe- 
riatur  Anglia  quid  possit  Romanus  pontifex."  Epist.  Hen.  II.  ad  Alexand.  III. 
apud  Petrum  Blesensem,  epist.  130.  Again,  the  pope's  power  was  made  use  of 
when  regular  canons  were  placed  in  Waltham  Abbey,  and  seculars  removed : 
"  Rex,  authoritate  domini  papa?,  instituit  in  ecclesia  de  Waltham  canonicos 
regulares."  (Hoved.  560).  "  Authoritate  summi  pontificis  sub  presentia  regis." 
Walsingham,  Ypodig.  NeustriaB,451). 

1  Gervase.  1520;  Hoved.  641 ;  Rymer,  i.  57. 


106  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

Thomas  of  Canterbury,  of  regular  canons,  near  Stafford, 
by  Richard  Peachy,  bishop  of  Coventry  and  Litchfield, 
who  entered  himself  among  them,  and  died  in  1 1 82  ;  St. 
John's  hospital,  at  Bath,  by  Reginald Fitzjoceline,  bishop 
of  Bath  and  Wells,  and  afterwards  archbishop  of  Can 
terbury  ;  a  hospital  at  Stroud,  near  Rochester,  by  Gil 
bert  Glanvil,  bishop  of  that  see  ;  Trinity  church,  at  Ips 
wich,  with  several  hospitals,  by  John,  called  Oxoniensis, 
bishop  of  Norwich.1  These,  with  several  other  pious 
foundations,  were  the  product  of  this  reign,  which  I 
shall  close  up,  after  I  have  taken  notice  of  a  few  occur 
rences  which  fall  in  with  these  times.  The  empress 
Maud  died  in  Normandy,  in  1 167.  Pope  Adrian  IV,  an 
Englishman,  is  said  to  have  given  Henry  II,  I  do  not 
know  what  commission  to  invade  Ireland.  Gilbert 
Foliot,  bishop  of  London,  though  otherwise  a  good  pre 
late,  appeared  at  the  head  of  those  that  persecuted  St. 
Thomas  of  Canterbury.  St.  Hugh,  whom  I  mentioned 
before,  was  made  prior  of  Witham  by  Henry  II,  and  af 
terwards  bishop  of  Lincoln.  He  died  in  1200.  Matthew 
Paris  gives  an  account  of  his  life,  and  of  several  miracles 
that  were  wrought  by  him  ;  and  particularly  observes, 
that  the  king  consulted  him  chiefly,  in  matters  relating 
to  the  church.2  I  find  in  this  reign,  that  some  of  the 
bishops  of  Coventry  and  Litchfield  still  used  Chester  in 
their  title,  it  belonging  to  their  diocese,  and  one  or  two 
of  their  predecessors  having  sat  there.  Sylvester  Giral- 
dus,  called  Cambrensis,  was  a  noted  person  of  this  and 
the  two  following  reigns.  The  account  we  have  of  him 
from  Hoveden,  and  others,  is,  that  he  was  nobly  born  ; 
had  been  much  abroad ;  sometime  read  a  lesson  of  divi 
nity  in  Paris  ;  was  first  tutor,  and  then  secretary,  to 
prince  John,  the  king's  son  ;  was  elected  bishop  of  St. 
David's,  and  attempted  to  restore  the  metropolitical 
power  of  that  see.  He  was  alive,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  following  century  ;  but  the  precise  time  of  his  death 
is  unknown.3  Geoifry  of  Monmouth  also  belongs  to  this 
age  ;  but  what  he  is  chiefly  taken  notice  of  for,  is,  a 

1  Dugd.  Monast.  in  locis.  3  Paris,  79,  170,  171.  3  Pitts,  278. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  107 

history  he  wrote,  which  gives  an  account  of  the  Britons, 
and  the  several  kings  that  governed  this  island,  before 
the  birth  of  Christ ;  wherein  he  has  not  met  with 
credit,  at  least  among  the  modern  English  critics, 
though  he  pretends  to  quote  authentic  records.  How 
ever,  he  has  a  great  many  advocates,  and  those  good 
critics  too,  who  tell  us,  that  William  of  Newburgh  was 
the  first  that  attacked  his  history  of  the  Britons,  which 
he  was  provoked  to,  by  being  disappointed  of  a  mitre  in 
Wales,  which  David  ap  Owen,  prince  of  Wales,  had  re 
fused  him.  Besides,  the  generality  of  our  historians 
have  always  allowed  of  the  account,  given  by  Geoffry, 
of  the  succession  of  British  kings  from  Brutus.1 

Richard  I,  one  of  Henry  IFs  sons,  was  the  next 
that  mounted  the  throne  ;  he  was  commonly  called 
Cceur  de  Lion,  from  his  singular  courage  and  bravery. 
On  the  day  of  his  coronation,  there  was  a  general  slaugh 
ter  made  of  the  Jews  that  inhabited  London.  Their  be 
haviour,  in  the  late  reign,  had  provoked  the  English  to 
commit  this  piece  of  barbarity  ;  for,  being  very  skilful 
in  the  management  of  money,  the  king  had  made  use  of 
them  in  contriving  several  taxes,  which  were  burdensome 
to  the  nation,  which,  it  seems  now,  on  Henry  II's  de 
cease,  they  paid  dear  for.  Some  historians  insinuate, 
as  if  king  Richard,  if  he  did  not  order  this  execution,  at 
least  encouraged  it :  others  are  willing  to  excuse  him, 
both  from  the  one  and  the  other.2  His  father  having 
formed  a  design  of  entering  into  the  holy  war,  Richard 
pursued  it  in  conjunction  with  the  king  of  France,  and 
several  other  Christian  princes;  and,  to  procure  money  for 
his  purpose,  renounced  the  homage  paid  by  Scotland.8 
When  king  Richard  was  upon  his  expedition  towards  the 

1  On  this  subject,  see  Pitts,  2 17. — In  this  reign  lived  also  Simeon  of  Durham, 
a  learned  historian.     He  begins  where  Bede  left  off,  and  ends  with  the  year 
1129.     About  the  same  time,  or  soon  after,  we  have  the  historians,  Henry  of 
Huntingdon,  William  of  Newburgh,  Gervase  of  Canterbury,  Roger  de  Hove- 
den,  Ralph  de  Diceto,  Walter  of  Coventry,  Matthew  Paris,  and  others. 

2  The  massacre  of  London  was  followed  by  similar  enormities  in  several 
other  parts  of  the  kingdom.     Five  hundred  Jews,  in  York,  rather  than  fall  into 
the  hands  of  their  enemies,  first  cut  the  throats  of  their  wives  and  children, 
and  then  inflicted  the  same  fate  on  themselves.     Hoved.  665 ;  Hemingf.  617 ; 
Newbr.  1.  4,  c.  10. 

3  Richard's  charter  to  the  king  of  Scots  is  in  Hoveclen,  662. 


108  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

Holy  Land,  he  touched  in  Sicily,  where  some  differences 
happened  between  him  and  Tancred,  king  of  that  island ; 
which  being  made  up,,  and  an  alliance  concluded,,  one 
article  was,  that  Tancred's  daughter  should  be  married 
to  Arthur,  duke  of  Britany,  nephew  to  king  Richard. 
The  instrument  of  this  agreement  is  to  be  seen  in  Hove- 
den,  who  gives  us  king  Richard's  letter  to  pope  Cle 
ment  III,  acquainting  him  with  the  transaction.1  The 
government  of  England,  during  king  Richard's  absence, 
was  committed  to  the  care  of  William  Longchamp, 
bishop  of  Ely,  who,  being  both  lord  chancellor  and  the 
pope's  legate,  by  the  strength  of  his  double  capacity  was 
in  full  power  to  inspect  and  direct  all  matters  belonging 
both  to  church  and  state.2  The  ground  he  stood  upon 
being  very  slippery,  he  was  not  able  to  keep  his  feet  for 
any  long  time.  Frequent  complaints  were  made  against 
his  administration,  by  the  clergy  and  nobility,  but 
chiefly  by  John,  the  king's  brother,  who  made  use  of 
many  indirect  means  to  depreciate  that  great  states 
man,  and  strip  him  of  his  authority;  and  it  was  not 
long  before  they  obtained  their  ends,  the  whole  nation 
in  a  manner  conspiring  against  him.  But  this  could 
not  be  legally  done,  till  king  Richard  had  been  informed 
of  matters,  and  his  orders  sent  over.  This  method  be 
ing  taken,  and  proving  effectual,  Walter,  archbishop  of 
Rouen,  whom  king  Richard  had  taken  along  with  him  as  far 
as  Sicily,  was  sent  back  into  England,  wliere  he  first  was 
an  assistant  to  the  bishop  of  Ely,  in  the  chancellorship ; 
but  the  nation  not  being  content  till  the  other  was  en 
tirely  deposed,  Walter  acted  solely,  and  gave  content, 
being  a  person  of  singular  capacity  and  moderation. 
In  the  meantime,  the  bishop  of  Ely,  considering  that  his 
expulsion  was  rather  a  mobbish  business,  than  a  legal 
proceeding,  appeals  to  the  pope,  who,  at  that  time,  was 
Celestine  III.  The  pope,  thinking  it  his  duty  to  protect 

1  P-  676—678.  "  Justiorem  exitum  facta  principum  sortiuntur,  cum  a  sede 
apostohca  robur  et  favorem  accipiunt,  et  sanctffi  Romance  ecclesia;  colloquio 
dmguntur."  Ib.  677. 

a  Roger,  bishop  of  Durham,  was  joined  in  commission  with  Longchamp,  but 
was  soon  laid  aside  by  the  other's  policy. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  109 

one,,  that  was  both  a  bishop  and  also  a  legate  of  the  holy 
see,  sends  orders  to  the  archbishop  to  have  him  restored; 
adding  that  all  ought  to  be  excommunicated,  that  were 
concerned  in  his  expulsion.  These  orders  from  Rome 
so  encouraged  the  bishop  of  Ely,,  that  he  rallied  again, 
and  had  two  topics  to  insist  upon.  First,  that,  as  a 
bishop,  it  belonged  to  the  pope  to  pronounce  upon  his 
case  ;  and,  as  to  his  regency  over  the  nation,  during  the 
king's  absence,  it  did  not  appear  that  his  majesty  had 
sent  over  any  orders  to  oblige  him  to  lay  down  that 
office.  Upon  which,  he  begins  to  exercise  his  legatine 
power,  and  excommunicates  several  of  the  bishops  and 
nobility,  who  were  chiefly  instrumental  in  his  expul 
sion  ;  and  spares  not  Walter,  archbishop  of  Rouen.  On 
the  other  hand,  his  adversaries  go  on,  without  taking 
notice  either  of  his  censures  or  the  pope's  orders,  alleg 
ing,  that  the  controversy  was  chiefly  about  mal-admi- 
nistration  of  the  civil  government,  a  point  the  pope  had 
nothing  to  do  with.  Upon  this,  Walter,  archbishop  of 
Rouen,  with  the  consent  of  the  nobility,  &c.  seizeth  the 
bishop  of  Ely's  revenues.1 

I  must  here  take  the  liberty  to  observe,  that  our  his 
torians  are  not  to  be  read  without  caution,  in  the  ac 
count  they  give  of  the  bishop  of  Ely.  The  character 
of  a  public  minister  lies  very  much  exposed ;  and  no 
thing  is  more  common,  than  to  charge  him  with  every 
mismanagement  that  happens  while  he  sits  at  the  helm. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  the  bishop  of  Ely  was  too  impe 
rious.  But  then,  if  we  consider  that  the  chief  enemy 
he  had,  was  John,  the  king's  brother,  who  took  this 
method  to  plant  himself  in  the  people's  favour,  during 
the  king's  absence ;  that  the  bishop  published  his  own 
justification,  and  undertook  distinctly  to  confute  his  ad 
versaries  in  every  point  of  their  accusation ;  and  that  the 
king,  after  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  still  had  a 
regard  for  him  ;  these  things,  I  say,  being  considered, 
some  writers  will  be  obliged  to  abate  a  little  in  the  cha 
racter  they  give  of  him.2 

1  Hoved.  701,  702,  70(5,  707;  Angl.  Sacr.  ii.  390—400. 

2  Hoved.  705,  769;  Godwin,  in  vit.  Willelmi  Episc.  Eliens.  251—254. 


1  10  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

I  must  not,  upon  this  occasion,  omit  a  passage  con 
cerning  Walter,  archbishop  of  Rouen,  who,  in  a  case 
which  has  a  great  resemblance  with  that  of  the  bishop 
of  Ely,  was  full  as  stubborn  as  he,  and  carried  his  re 
sentment  as  far.  The  case,  in  short,  was  this  :  in  the 
year  1197,  there  happened  to  be  a  contest  between  king 
Richard  and  Walter,  archbishop  of  Rouen.  The  king 
had  built  a  castle,  with  other  fortifications,  upon  certain 
lands  belonging  to  the  see  of  Rouen ;  the  archbishop 
made  grievous  complaints,  and  resented  the  seizure  so 
much,  that  he  interdicted  the  whole  province  for  being 
concerned  in  the  fact.  The  king  took  the  cause  in 
hand,  and  sent  his  agents  to  Rome.  The  matter  being 
referred  to  pope  Celestine  III,  it  was  alleged,  on  king 
Richard's  part,  that  there  was  a  necessity  of  erecting 
fortifications  in  the  aforesaid  place,  to  hinder  the  French 
from  making  incursions  into  Normandy  ;  and  that  the 
king  had  no  design  to  oppress,  or  do  any  wrong  to  the 
church,  by  this  undertaking.  It  was  farther  added,  that 
an  equivalent  had  been  offered  to  the  archbishop,  for  the 
town,  castle,  and  lands,  which  his  majesty  found  him 
self  obliged  to  take  possession  of,  for  the  defence  of  his 
dominions.  The  pope,  having  heard  the  case,  in  the 
first  place  severely  reprimanded  the  archbishop  for  his 
rash  proceeding,  and  took  off  the  interdict.  Then  he 
gave  his  opinion,  that  the  king  might  make  use  of  pro 
per  means  to  secure  his  dominions.  In  the  conclusion, 
he  advised  both  parties  to  compound  the  matter.  Af 
terwards,  king  Richard  called  an  assembly  of  the  nobi 
lity,  bishops,  and  abbots  of  Normandy,  where  it  was 
determined,  that  the  town  of  Dieppe,  with  its  depen 
dencies,  and  some  other  privileges,  should  be  allowed, 
by  way  of  equivalent.1  This  passage  may  be  taken  no 
tice  of,  as  an  argument  of  king  Richard's  good  inclina 
tions  towards  the  church,  which  he  would  not  suffer  to 
be  deprived  of  any  of  its  rights.  He  finished  his 
days  not  long  after,  a  wound  ill-cured  being  the  oc 
casion  of  his  death.  History  gives  a  great  character  of 

1  Hovecl.  769. 


ART.  i.]  NORMANS.  1 1 1 

this  prince,,  who,  though  formerly  he  had  taken  some 
liberties,  yet  was  reclaimed,  towards  the  latter  end  of  his 
reign. 

We  meet  with  very  few  religious  foundations  in  king 
Richard's  days;  his  absence,  and  the  controversies  among 
the  bishops  at  home,  obstructing  those  good  designs. 
However,  I  find  two  that  are  ascribed  to  these  times  ; 
namely,  the  priory  of  Royston,  founded  by  Eustachius 
de  Mark,  knight,  a  house  of  regular  canons,  in  honour 
of  St.  Thomas.  Royston  took  its  name  from  Roysia, 
a  virtuous  lady,  wTho,  in  former  days,  had  erected  a 
cross  there.  Afterwards,  it  became  a  place  of  devotion, 
and  by  degrees  a  town.  Another  pious  foundation  was 
West-Derham  monastery,  by  Hubert  Walter,  afterwards 
archbishop  of  Canterbury.1  Bishop  Godwin,  in  his  ac 
count  of  the  English  prelates,  makes  mention  of  three 
excellent  archbishops,  who  successively  held  the  see  of 
Canterbury,  about  these  times :  Baldwin,  who  went 
with  king  Richard  into  the  Holy  Land,  where  he  died, 
and  by  preaching,  liberal  alms,  and  a  continual  example 
of  a  most  virtuous  life,  did  great  good  there  :  Reginald 
Fitzjoceline,  who  with  tears  unfeignedly  besought 
them  to  make  choice  of  some  other,  and  died  within  a 
month ;  and  Hubert  Walter,  wTho  was  so  industrious  in 
making  collections  among  the  clergy  for  the  ransom  of 
the  king.  "He  was  an  excellent  and  memorable  man, 
a  bridle  unto  the  king,  and  obstacle  of  tyranny,  the 
peace  and  comfort  of  his  people."2 

I  will  take  leave  of  this  reign,  remitting  the  reader 
to  our  historians  for  the  warlike  exploits  ;  only  I  must 
not  omit  the  hardships  this  glorious  prince  underwent, 
when  he  was  upon  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land. 
Having  escaped  a  dangerous  storm  at  sea,  he  met  with 
another  much  more  dangerous  at  land ;  for,  being  cast 
upon  the  territories  of  Leopold,  duke  of  Austria,  the 
duke,  upon  a  pique  he  had  against  him  (occasioned  by 
some  punctilios  which  happened  in  Palestine),  seized 
him,  and  delivered  him  up  to  the  emperor,  Henry  VI ; 

1  Dugd.  Monast.  ii.  264,  624,  2  Godwin,  in  vitis,  82,  83,  85. 


J  12  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

who,  contrary  to  all  laws,  detained  him  prisoner.1  And 
now  one  calamity  was  followed  close  by  another ;  Philip 
Augustus,  king  of  France,  seizeth  the  juncture,  and  falls 
upon  Normandy.  John,  king  Richard's  brother,  raiseth 
commotions  in  England,  and  withal  makes  a  party,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  crown  ;  for  he  was  in  hopes  the 
king  would  never  return.  Pope  Celestine.  in  the  mean 
time,  labours  all  he  can,  in  favour  of  the  captive  king ; 
he  threatens  the  emperor  with  excommunication,  unless 
he  delivers  him  up  ;  the  same  threats  he  sends  forth 
against  the  king  of  France,  unless  he  withdraws  his 
troops  out  of  Normandy.  At  length,  by  these  and  other 
methods,  the  emperor  was  prevailed  upon  to  release  the 
king ;  but  it  was  upon  the  terms  of  an  exorbitant  ran 
som,  which  was  collected  by  a  free  gift  of  the  subject, 
upon  which  occasion  the  bishops  distinguished  them 
selves.  Richard  landed  in  England  March  20th,  1 194.2 
Though  the  next  in  blood  was  Arthur,  nephew  to 
Richard  and  John,  yet,  he  being  out  of  England,  upon 
the  decease  of  the  late  king,  in  1 1 99,  John  was 
9  proclaimed,  and  crowned  with  the  general  consent 
of  the  bishops  and  nobility.  And  not  long  after,  Ar 
thur  was  taken  out  of  this  life,  whether  naturally,  or 
by  a  violent  death,  I  will  not  determine ;  though  it  is 
generally  believed,  that  king  John,  having  taken  him 
prisoner,  ordered  him  to  be  privately  dispatched  in  the 
castle  of  Rouen,  where  he  was  confined.8  And  if  we 
may  judge  of  the  works  of  Providence  by  the  calamities 

1  The  emperor  alleged  several  reasons,  in  the  diet,  for  this  detention ; — that 
Richard  had  confederated  with  Tancred,  the  usurper  of  Sicily,  that  he  had 
turned  the  amis  of  the  crusade  against  the  Christians  of  Cyprus,  that  he  had 
procured  the  assassination  of  the  marquess  of  Montserrat,  and  that  he  had 
insultingly  removed  the  duke  of  Austria's  standard  from  the  walls  of  Acre. 
Richard  answered  these  charges,  in  an  eloquent  and  effective  speech. — Hoved. 
722 ;  Paris,  145 ;  Brompt.  1252. 

2  Hoved.  724,  725;  Newhr.  1.  4,  c.  32;  Brompt.  1253.     His  ransom  was 
10,000  marks.     Hoved.  728  ;  Newbr.  1.  4.  c.  32. 

3  Sed  non  multo  post,  idem  Arthurus  subito  evanuit,  modo  fere  omnibus 
ignoto,  utinam  non  ut  fama  refert  invida.  (Paris,  174.)  Quern,  feria  quintaante 
pascha,  post  prandium,  ebrius  et  daemonis  plenus,  propria  manu  interfecit. 
(Annal.  de  Margan,  1 3.)     Arthurum,  scilicet,  filium  fratris  sui  senioris,  Gal- 
fridi,  occidit  per  manum  armigeri  sui,  Petri  de  Malo  Lacu.     Knyghton,  2413, 
2414. 


ART.  [.]  ENGLISH.  H3 

which,  in  all  appearance,  are  designed  as  punishments 
of  the  wickedness  men  are  guilty  of,  the  misfortunes, 
which  attended  king  John's  reign,  are  a  token  of  some 
atrocious  fact  he  had  been  concerned  in.  I  will  only 
mention  some  occurrences  which  relate  to  the  church. 
It  is  a  thing  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if  he,  who  trampled 
upon  the  laws  of  his  country,  and  waded  through  blood, 
to  come  at  the  throne,  should  pursue  his  ambition  to 
the  prejudice  of  inferior  bodies  and  private  property. 
Besides  the  war  with  France,  he  had  a  controversy  with 
pope  Innocent  III.,  which  was  attended  with  such  con 
sequences,  as  made  him  uneasy  all  the  rest  of  his  reign. 
This  pope  had  nominated  to  the  see  of  Canterbury 
Stephen  Langton,  a  person  thoroughly  qualified  for  that 
dignity,  yet  not  to  the  king's  liking ;  either  because  he 
suspected  the  person,  upon  account  of  his  foreign  edu 
cation,  or  rather,  he  judged  it  to  be  a  part  of  his  prero 
gative  to  nominate  the  person.1  Hence  he  refused  to 

1  The  nomination  and  election  of  bishops  was  a  continual  source  of  conten 
tion  :  the  king,  the  chapters,  the  pope,  one  way  or  other,  put  up  a  claim  either 
to  name,  elect,  or  confirm.  [Nor  was  this  all.  Wherever  the  cathedral  church 
was  attached  to  a  monastery,  the  monks,  who  had  contrived  to  usurp  the  place, 
and  exercise  the  rights,  of  the  chapter,  invariably  claimed  the  exclusive  privilege 
of  choosing  the  bishop.  In  the  case  of  Canterbury,  this  led  to  constant  dis 
putes.  The  suffragan  prelates,  deprived  by  it  of  their  canonical  share  in  the 
election  of  the  metropolitan,  resisted  the  claim  :  the  monks,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  strenuously  asserted  it :  the  death  of  each  primate  became  the  signal  for 
renewed  warfare  ;  and  the  triumph  of  one  party  was  only  followed,  on  the  next 
occasion,  by  the  increased  exertions  of  the  other.  See  the  several  elections  in 
Gervase,  1304,  1306,  1423—1426,  1466—1474,  1583,  1584. 

In  its  origin,  the  controversy,  mentioned  in  the  text,  was  not  unconnected 
with  these  disputes.  On  the  death  of  Hubert,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the 
monks  of  Christchurch,  anxious  to  secure  the  disputed  right  of  electing  his  suc 
cessor,  assembled  secretly  in  the  night,  and,  having  placed  Reginald,  their 
subprior,  on  the  archiepiscopal  throne,  first  exacted  from  him  an  oath  that  he 
would  conceal  his  appointment,  until  it  should  have  been  communicated  to  the 
holy  see,  and  then  despatched  him,  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  pontiff.  But 
the  vanity  of  the  monk  soon  divulged  the  secret  of  his  election ;  and  his  brethren, 
to  elude  the  probable  consequences  of  his  imprudence,  at  once  resolved  to  treat 
their  previous  acts  as  informal.  The  royal  permission  was  now  solicited  and 
obtained,  to  proceed  to  an  open  election  :  at  the  recommendation  of  the  crown, 
John  de  Gray,  bishop  of  Norwich,  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacant  primacy;  and 
a  body  of  monks  was  deputed  to  announce  his  appointment,  and  procure  its 
ratification  from  the  court  of  Rome.  As  might  have  been  anticipated,  the 
claims  both  of  Reginald  and  of  Gray  were  equally  rejected  by  the  pope.  If  the 
election  of  the  former  were  irregular,  that  of  the  latter  was  not  less  informal, 
having  been  made  before  the  nullity  of  the  other  had  been  declared.  Innocent 
pronounced  both  to  be  invalid  :  he  forbad  either  Reginald  or  de  Gray  to  aspire 

VOL.    I.  I 


114  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

admit  the  new  prelate.  Innocent,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  resolved  to  enforce  the  appointment ;  and  the  con 
troversy,  by  degrees,  arrived  to  such  a  height,  that  the 
whole  kingdom  was  at  length  (an.  1208)  put  under  an 
interdict.  To  evade  the  royal  anger,  the  bishops,  who 
had  ventured  to  publish  the  interdict,  fled  to  the  conti 
nent.  Others,  who  had  equal  reason  to  apprehend  the 
resentment  of  the  monarch,  retired  to  Scotland :  their 
revenues  were  instantly  confiscated  for  the  use  of  the 
crown ;  and  all  the  clergy  and  religious  in  general  lay 
under  a  great  oppression.  When  the  pope  came  to  be 
informed  of  this  behaviour  of  king  John,  arid  that  no 
arguments  were  sufficient  to  reclaim  him,  at  length  he 
was  excommunicated  ;  and,  still  to  terrify  him  the  more, 
the  king  of  France  was  encouraged  and  pressed  to  make 
war  with  him,  as  being  a  public  enemy  and  destroyer  of 
God's  church  ;  adding,  at  the  same  time,  that,  king  John 
being  expelled,  France  might  become  master  of  all  the 
English  dominions.1  In  a  little  while,  king  John  found 
himself  in  very  bad  circumstances  ;  the  French  threat 
ened  him  from  abroad,  and  all  churchmen  whatever 
were  exasperated  against  him  at  home.  Wherefore,  by 
the  persuasion  of  Pandulph,  the  pope's  legate,  he  re 
called  the  bishops  and  abbots  from  banishment,  and  put 
them  into  possession  of  their  lands.  Afterwards,  he  runs 
into  the  other  extreme  of  behaviour,  in  regard  of  the  see 
of  Rome.  And  whether  it  was  to  tie  the  pope  faster  to 
his  interest,  in  opposition  to  any  attack  from  the  French, 
or  to  provide  himself  against  any  insurrection  of  his 

to  the  vacant  see ;  and,  having  written  to  the  king,  requesting  permission  for 
the  monks  to  proceed  to  a  new  election  at  Rome,  o  tie  red  Langton,  an  English 
man,  and  a  cardinal  of  the  Roman  church,  as  the  object  of  their  choice.  At 
the  end  of  several  months,  no  answer  had  been  returned  by  the  English  monarch : 
but  the  monks,  in  the  meantime,  either  by  threats  or  entreaties,  had  been 
induced  to  unite  their  suffrages  in  favour  of  the  cardinal ;  and,  in  the  city  of 
Viterbo,  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  June,  1207,  that  prelate  was  at  length  con 
secrated  by  Innocent  himself.  See  Paris,  178,  179,  186,  187,  189;  Westm. 
266,  267,  268.  — TV] 

1  Rege  Anglorum  a  solio  regni  expulso,  ipse  [rex  Franciae]  et  successores 
sui  regnum  Angliae  jure  perpetuo  possiderent.  Paris,  195.  [John,  however, 
could  scarcely  complain  of  this  proceeding ;  for  he  had  himself  so  far  acknow 
ledged  the  temporal  authority  of  the  pope,  as  to  invoke  it  against  Philip,  for 
the  recovery  of  Normandy.  Decret.  Novit.  cap.  13,  de  judiciis.— 7YJ 


ART.  r.-]  ENGLISH.  115 

subjects  at  home,  whom  he  might  provoke  by  an  abuse 
of  his  power,  or  whatever  might  be  the  motive  that 
induced  him  to  it,  he  made  the  kingdoms  of  Eng 
land  and  Ireland  tributary  to  pope  Innocent  III.,  and 
his  successors,  bishops  of  Rome,  by  a  public  instrument, 
signed  in  the  knights-templars'  church,  near  Dover; 
which  was  accepted  by  the  pope's  legate,  who  received 
homage  from  the  king,  in  the  pope's  name.1 

About  two  years  after  this  remarkable  submission, 
his  subjects,  having,  during  that  time,  experienced  many 
instances  of  his  arbitrary  proceedings,  conspired  to 
gether  to  demand,  sword  in  hand,  that  king  Edward's 
laws,  and  other  laws  made  in  former  reigns,  for  support 
ing  the  liberties  of  the  people  both  in  civil  and  religious 
matters,  should  be  revived  and  put  in  execution.  The 
king,  finding  that  his  subjects  were  unanimous  in 
their  demands,  was  obliged  to  comply ;  and,  ac-  L 
cordingly,  a  charter  was  drawn  up,  specifying  all  the 
concessions  in  favour  of  the  people's  liberties ;  and 
which,  in  the  ensuing  reign,  and  ever  after,  was  called 
Magna  Charta.  But  no  sooner  were  these  petitioners 
(as  they  thought)  made  happy  by  these  concessions, 
than  the  king  began  to  reflect  on  what  he  had  done, 
and  heartily  repented  for  his  folly.  His  business  after 
wards  was  to  find  out  some  way  of  annulling  the  agree 
ment.  And,  to  bring  this  about,  he  applies  himself  to 
pope  Innocent  III.,  to  whom,  as  I  observed  before,  king 
John  had  made  a  grant  of  his  two  kingdoms  of  England 
and  Ireland,  as  far  as  he  was  capable  of  making  such 
a  grant.  In  the  letter  king  John  sent  to  the  pope,  he 
desired  to  be  dispensed  with,  as  to  the  agreement  and 
concessions  between  him  and  his  subjects.  The  pope, 
having  considered  the  reasons  he  alleged,  and,  besides, 
having  regard  to  the  supremum  dominium  he  was  sup 
posed  to  enjoy  over  the  king's  dominions,  came  easily 
into  his  measures,  and  ordered  a  diploma  to  be  drawn 

1  Paris,  187,  188,  189,  190,  195,  197,199;  Chron.  Petrob.adan.  1209.  [The 
assertion  that  John  did  homage  to  the  pope,  in  the  person  of  Pandulf,  the 
legate,  is  in  accordance  with  the  general  supposition ;  but  has  been  shown  by  Dr 
Lingard  to  be  in  opposition  to  the  fact.  Hist,  of  Eng.  ii.  235,  note  44. — TV) 

I  2 


116  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

up,  by  virtue  whereof  the  charter  of  liberties  was  made 
void ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  threatening  letters  were 
sent  to  the  barons,  requiring  their  submission  to  the 
king,  as  usual  before  the  charter  was  granted.  Neither 
did  the  pope  forget  to  put  them  in  mind,  that  they  had 
given  disturbance  to  a  kingdom  which  belonged  to  the 
holy  see.1  By  this  means  the  breach  was  widened,  and 
the  barons  had  two  quarrels  upon  their  hands,  one  with 
the  king,  and  the  other  with  the  pope.  The  authority, 
which  the  pope  claimed  over  them,  being  both  civil  and 
ecclesiastical,  and  the  latter  being  useful  to  support  the 
claims  of  the  other,  the  barons  were  not  only  threatened, 
but  actually  excommunicated ;  and  their  adherents, 
both  in  general,  and  many  of  them  by  name,  underwent 
the  same  fate.  The  barons  had  the  king's  example 
before  them  how  to  manage  in  such  a  juncture.  King 
John  had  made  his  kingdom  tributary  to  the  see  of 
Rome,  when  he  was  afraid  of  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  French,  and  not  being  obeyed  by  his  own  people  ; 
and  now  the  barons,  to  free  themselves  from  the  tyran 
nical  power  of  king  John,  offer  the  kingdom  to  the 
French.  And  accordingly,  in  the  year  1216,  an  army 
lands  from  thence,  under  the  command  of  prince  Louis, 
the  king  of  France's  son,  who  being  joined  by  the  major 
part  of  the  barons,  a  bloody  war  was  begun  in  the  bowels 
of  the  kingdom  ;  but  king  John,  dying  the  same  year, 
never  saw  the  issue  of  it.2  A  nameless  author  reports, 
that  he  was  poisoned  by  a  monk  ;  but  a  contrary  account 
is  given  us  by  authentic  history,  which  informs  us,  that 
he  died  a  natural  death,  and  prepared  himself  by  re 
ceiving  the  sacraments  of  the  church.3  Yet  Matthew 
Paris,  who  was  contemporary,  owns,  that  he  was  scarce 
a  Christian ;  that  he  entertained  some  doubts  concern- 

1  Paris,  215 — 220,  223.     Cum  regni  dominium  ad  Romanam  ecclesiam  per- 
tineret.     Ib.  224. 

2  Paris,  227,  233,  234,  236,  et  seq. 

3  [Paris  (242),  and  Westminster  (276)  say  that  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  com 
bined  effects  of  grief  and  surfeit;  the  Annals  of  Waverley  (182)  that  he  died  of 
grief  alone ;  and  Hemingford  (560)  that  he  was  destroyed  by  poison,  adminis 
tered  to  him  in  a  pear.     Wikes  (38),  and  Knighton  (2425)  repeat  the  story  of 
the  poison;  but  the  former  qualifies  it  with  an  "  ut  dicitur ;"  the  latter  speaks 
of  it  only  as  the  "  vulgata  fama" — T.~] 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  117 

ing  the  resurrection  and  other  articles  of  faith,  and 
would  often  break  out  into  very  blasphemous  expres 
sions.1  Among  all  the  passages  of  this  king's  life,  none 
is  more  surprising  than  the  resignation  of  his  kingdom 
to  the  see  of  Rome  ;  but  it  is  much  more  surprising, 
that  some  authors  should  mention  it  as  an  effect  of  his 
zeal  for  the  church  ;  whereas  other  writers  represent  it 
as  an  unparalleled  instance  of  folly  and  injustice,  and 
entirely  owing  to  pique  and  resentment.  For,  as  they 
reason  upon  the  point,  had  he  not  sworn  to  maintain 
the  liberties  both  of  church  and  state  ?  Did  he  scruple 
to  break  his  oath  upon  any  serviceable  occasion,  in  favour 
of  his  avarice  and  ambition  ?  Was  not  alienating  the 
crown,  and  selling  his  subjects  to  a  foreign  power,  a 
total  deviation  from  the  rules  of  justice  and  laws  of 
nations  ?  And  how  could  such  a  behaviour  as  this  be 
reconcileable  with  the  principles  of  religion  ?  Was  it 
an  instance  of  zeal  for  the  church,  when  he  made  the 
same  offer  to  a  Mahommedan  prince  ?  The  particulars 
whereof  are  related  by  Matthew  Paris,  who  tells  us,  that 
king  John,  being  resolved  to  take  revenge  of  his  subjects, 
because  he  could  not  bring  them  to  a  compliance,  offered 
to  make  his  kingdom  tributary  to  Admiralius  Murmelius, 
or  Miramolin,,  king  of  Morocco  and  of  part  of  Spain ; 
and  that  he  sent  ambassadors  to  him,  to  treat  upon  the 
matter,  promising,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  himself 
would  become  a  Mahommedan.  Now,  the  king  of 
Morocco  was  so  far  from  accepting  of  this  offer,  that  he 
rejected  it  with  indignation,  and  ridiculed  king  John  as 
a  poor  despicable  prince,  not  fit  to  sit  at  the  head  of  a 
free  nation.  This  may,  perhaps,  appear  like  a  romantic 
story,  or  the  invention  of  some  of  king  John's  enemies, 
who  had  a  mind  to  expose  his  character  and  vilify 
him  ;  but  Matthew  Paris  assures  us,  he  received  these 
particulars  from  one  of  the  company  that  was  sent  upon 


1  Paris,  206.  Rapin,  and  some  others,  observe,  that  Matthew  Paris  ought 
to  be  read  with  caution,  it  being  scarce  credible  what  he  taxes  king  John  with. 
They  would  do  well  to  use  the  same  caution,  in  what  relates  to  pope  Innocent, 
whom  he  lashes,  without  any  regard  either  to  truth,  modesty,  or  Christianity. 


118  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [FART  i. 

that  remarkable  embassy.1  After  all,  great  allowances 
are  to  be  made  in  all  exasperated  times ;  and,  question 
less,  king  John's  picture  was  often  drawn  with  great 
disadvantage.  This  the  reader  must  carry  along  with 
him  ;  and,  in  the  meantime,  we  must  not  forget  to  take 
notice  of  those  good  works,  that  were  performed  in  his 
reign,  both  by  himself  and  others. 

King  John  is  said  to  have  founded  the  abbey  of  Bow- 
ley,  or  Beaulieu,  in  the  New  Forest ;  the  abbey  of  Fa- 
rendon,  as  also  Hales-Owen,  in  Shropshire  ;  and  to 
have  rebuilt  Godstow,  near  Oxford,  and  Wroxal  mo 
nastery,  in  Warwickshire.  In  this  king's  reign,  were 
founded,  St.  John's  hospital,  at  Wells,  by  Hugh  Wallys, 
bishop  of  Lincoln ;  Tickford  monastery,  of  regular 
canons,  Selbourn  priory,  in  Hampshire,  St.  Thomas's 
hospital  in  Southwark,  and -a  hospital  at  Portsmouth, 
by  Peter  de  la  Roche,  bishop  of  Winchester.  This 
bishop  of  Winchester.,  otherwise  styled  Peter  de  Rupi- 
bus,  was  a  person  of  great  interest,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  was  very  instrumental  in  making  up  the 
differences  between  the  emperor  Frederick  and  the  see 
of  Rome,  which  otherwise  would  have  put  all  Europe  in 
a  flame.  In  this  reign,  also,  a  convent  of  friars  was 
placed  in  the  island  of  Anglesey,  by  Leolin,  prince  of 
Wales.  One  of  the  great  lights  of  the  church  of  Eng 
land,  in  this  reign,  was  Stephen  Langton,  cardinal,  and 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  as  bishop  Godwin  gives 
his  character,  was,  in  all  respects,  qualified  for  his  place, 
of  great  learning,  and  richly  endowed  with  many  natural 
gifts,  both  as  to  body  and  mind.2 

1216  When  Henry  III.,  son  of  king  John,  came  to  the 
crown,  he  was  in  such  circumstances,  that  he 
found  himself  obliged  to  behave  as  his  father  had  done, 
in  regard  of  the  see  of  Rome ;  and,  accordingly,  he  paid 
homage  to  the  pope  for  the  kingdoms  of  England  and 
Ireland,  with  the  promise  of  a  1000  marks,  as  usual,  by 
way  of  acknowledgment.  This  ceremony  was  per- 

1  Paris,  204—206. 

2  Dugd.  Monast.  i.  925;   ii.  434,  439,  655;  Paris,  399;  Godwin  in  vit. 
Lang-ton,  86  et'seq. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  119 

formed  in  the  presence  of  Gualo,  the  pope's  legate.1  I 
observed  before,  that  the  barons  had  called  over  prince 
Louis,  with  a  French  army,  to  assist  them  in  the  reco 
very  of  their  liberties  ;  and  that  king  John,  when  he 
died,  left  the  nation  engaged  in  a  civil  war.  Now,  king 
Henry's  next  business  was,  to  get  rid  of  this  trouble 
some  guest,  prince  Louis  ;  which  he  effected  in  a  little 
time,  having  first  humbled  him,  by  a  remarkable  victory 
he  obtained  near  Lincoln,,  the  consequence  whereof  was 
prince  Louis's  departure  from  England.2  In  the  year 
1225,  a  parliament  assembled  at  Westminster,  where 
the  king,  in  a  very  solemn  manner,  confirmed  the  fa 
mous  charter  called  Magna  Charta,  which  provided  for 
the  liberties  of  the  people,  both  in  civil  and  religious  mat 
ters,  and  which  had  been  the  subject  of  a  long  conten 
tion,  and  the  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  blood  being  spilt.3 
All  this  while,  the  generality  of  the  nation,  both 
nobility  and  clergy,  could  not  relish  their  subjection 
and  dependence  upon  the  see  of  Rome,  as  it  had  been 
imposed  upon  them  by  king  John,  and  still  was  prac 
tised  by  his  son,  Henry.  The  bishops,  in  particular, 
complained  of  many  abuses  which  arose  from  this  de 
pendence  :  as  namely,  that  the  pope  sent  his  legates 
over  too  often,  and  even  upon  any  frivolous  occasion ; 
that  he  assumed  a  power  of  nominating  to  all  the  best 
benefices  ;  that  his  officers  were  exorbitant  in  their  fees  ; 
and,  by  these  and  such  like  methods,  the  episcopal 
power  was  almost  become  insignificant,  and  the  church 
of  England  languished  under  a  kind  of  slavery.  And 
what  made  their  condition  still  worse,  the  king  went 
hand-in-hand  with  the  pope's  officers  in  all  these  prac- 

1  Fecit  homagium  sanctae  Romans  ecclesise,  et  Innocentio  papse,  de  regno 
Anglia)  et  Hiberniae;  et  juravit  quod  mille  marcas,  quas  pater  ejus  Romanae 
contulerat  ecclesise,   fideliter  persolveret,   quamdiu  praedicta  regna    teneret. 
Paris,  243. 

2  Paris,  249, 252 ;  Annal.  Waverl.  183. 

3  Annal.  Burton.  271—278;  Paris,  272.     [The  charter  had  already  been 
twice  confirmed  by  Henry ;  first,  on  the  day  of  his  coronation,  and  again,  in 
1218 ;  but  its  provisions  had  hitherto  been  eluded.    Lingard,  ii.  276,  288. — T.~\ 
Amongst  other  things,  it  declares,  1st,  that  the  church  of  England  shall  be  free, 
and  that  its  liberties  shall  be  secured  against  the  civil  magistrate  (cap.  i.); 
2d,  that  patrons  of  abbeys  shall  have  custody  of  them,  during  a  vacancy  (cap.  33.) 


120  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

tices.  The  story  of  those  times  is  full  of  this  matter  ; 
but  Matthew  Paris,  in  particular,  though  his  fidelity  is 
not  to  be  questioned  as  to  matters  of  fact,  he  being  an 
eye-witness,  yet  is  so  visibly  carried  away  in  his  reflec 
tions  against  the  pope  and  the  king,  that  he  is  not  to  be 
read  without  some  caution.  However,  this  historian 
tells  us,  that  king  Henry  was  so  wrapt  up  with  the 
pope's  legate,  Otho,  that  he  adored  the  very  ground  he 
walked  upon  ;  that  he  followed  his  directions  in  all 
affairs,  both  public  and  private,  and  placed  him  under 
a  canopy,  upon  a  kind  of  throne,  at  his  table  ;  that  his 
subjects  of  all  ranks  were  continually  uneasy,  upon  this 
account ;  and  the  more,  because  he  seemed  not  sensible 
of  the  inconveniences,  which  his  country  was  exposed 
to,  by  such  a  behaviour.  However,  at  length,  people 
began  to  be  so  clamorous  upon  the  subject  of  the  papal 
abuses,  that  it  put  him  upon  seeking  out  for  a  remedy  ; 
and,  as  a  preparative,  a  letter  was  sent  to  pope  Inno 
cent  IV.,  wherein  are  expressed  many  of  those  grievances, 
which  the  nation  complained  of.  He  tells  his  holiness, 
that  the  church  of  England  was  so  over-awed  by  foreigners, 
who  stepped  into  the  best  preferments  by  papal  provi 
sions,  and  so  loaded  with  taxes,  collected  for  the  benefit 
of  the  holy  see,  that  the  burden  was  become  insupport 
able.  Then  he  descends  to  particulars  ;  that  patrons 
were  deprived  of  their  right  of  presentation  ;  persons 
presented,  who  either  spent  the  revenues  abroad,  or,  if 
they  resided,  for  want  of  knowing  the  language  and 
customs  of  the  country,  the  care  of  souls  was  very  much 
neglected  ;  that  studies  languished,  the  English  youth 
having  no  encouragement  to  qualify  themselves  for  the 
dignities  of  the  church ;  founders'  wills  were  neglected, 
and  charities  either  wasted,  or  turned  out  of  their  pro 
per  channel.  After  these  and  such  like  complaints,  he 
beseecheth  his  holiness,  to  give  out  orders  to  his  officers 
to  be  more  moderate  in  their  fees,  and  let  the  ancient 
patrons  of  churches  enjoy  their  right  of  presentation, 
and  to  desist,  for  a  while  at  least,  from  such  frequent 
provisions  as  of  late  years  had  been  practised.  He  con 
cludes  with  a  plain  intimation  of  that  authority  he 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  121 

might  claim,  if  he  designed  to  be  no  longer  complaisant 
to  the  holy  see ;  putting  his  holiness  in  mind,  that  the 
high  station,  he  was  in,  obliged  him  rather  to  defend, 
than  invade,  the  rights  and  privileges  of  mankind  ;  and, 
therefore,  if,  for  the  future,  the  papal  orders  were  not 
always  obeyed,  in  certain  matters,  it  was  the  cry  of  the 
people,  and  the  prerogative  of  his  crown  (which  made 
him  absolute  in  all  civil  causes),  that  engaged  him  to 
oppose  the  holy  see.1 

This  sharp  reprimand,  as  it  was  not  designed  to 
insult  the  see  of  Rome,  or  deprive  it  of  those  privileges, 
which  were,  for  good  reasons,  granted  by  the  kings  of 
England,  in  former  times,  so  it  had,  at  this  present,  no 
farther  consequence  than  to  make  the  pope  more  cautious 
in  the  use  of  them,  and  the  king  more  jealous  of  his  pre 
rogative.  That  there  were  some  new  regulations,  in  point 
of  church  discipline,  whereby  the  clergy  were  deprived  of 
part  of  the  power  they  formerly  enjoyed,  appears  by  an 
order  published  by  the  king,  in  the  year  1247,  which 
forbids  all  ecclesiastics  to  take  any  cognizance  of  civil 
matters  belonging  to  the  laity,  excepting  in  matrimonial 
causes,  and  last  wills.2  This  and  such  like  regulations 
only  restrained  the  clergy  in  matters  merely  civil.  But, 
by  degrees,  the  king  was  charged  with  making  notorious 
encroachments  both  upon  the  church,  and  the  civil 
liberties  of  the  people.  For,  in  a  parliament  held  in 
1248,  both  the  bishops  and  the  nobility  offered  a  list  of 
grievances,  and  desired  to  have  them  redressed.  Some 
of  the  articles  were,  that  he  had  demanded  exorbitant 
taxes ;  that  he  bestowed  benefices  and  extravagant  gifts 
upon  foreigners ;  that  he  kept  bishoprics  and  abbies  an 
unreasonable  time  in  his  hands,  purposely  to  enjoy  the 

1  Paris,  489,  550,  et  seq.     [In  point  of  fact,  this  passage  embodies  the  sub 
stance,  not  only  of  Henry's  letter,  which  complains  merely  of  the  provisions, 
but  also  of  two  others,  one  from  the  body  of  the  English  nation,   presented  to 
the  pope  at  the  council  of  Lyons,  in  1245  (see  Appendix,  No.  I),  the  other 
drawn  up  in  the  following  year,  and  containing  the  united  complaints  of  the 
king,  the  nobles,  and  the  prelates.     See  Paris,  550,  585,  611,  612;  and  Annal. 
Burton.  306—310. 

For  a  more  satisfactory  account  of  these  disputes  with  the  papal  see,  the 
reader  should  consult  Dr.'Lingard,  Hist.  ii.  304 — 311. — T.~\ 

2  Paris,  634. 


122  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

revenues,  which  was  a  great  detriment  to  religion. 
When  these  matters  were  first  proposed,  the  king  pro 
mised  that  every  thing  should  be  amended  ;  but,  the 
next  time  he  met  his  parliament,  instead  of  complying 
with  their  desire,  he  treated  them  with  a  great  deal  of 
haughtiness,  and  told  them  plainly  that  he  did  not  sit 
upon  the  throne  to  receive  laws,  but  to  give  laws.  After 
wards,  he  lay  very  heavy,  both  upon  the  laity  and  eccle 
siastics,  in  point  of  taxes ;  insomuch,  that,  in  the  year 
1252,  the  bishops  offered  to  the  parliament  near  fifty 
articles  of  grievances.1  What  obliged  the  king  to  treat 
his  people  with  so  much  severity,  was  the  war  he  had 
with  Louis  IX.,  king  of  France,  called  St.  Louis,  which 
was  both  chargeable  and  unsuccessful ;  and,  when  they 
made  peace,  in  1259,  it  was  very  inglorious  on  king 
Henry's  side.2  The  consequence  of  this  was  an  open 
rupture  between  the  king  and  the  barons,  who,  finding 
themselves  still  more  and  more  oppressed  by  him,  were 
resolved  to  obtain  that  by  force,  which  they  had  not  been 
able  to  gain  by  entreaty.  Wherefore,  in  the  year  1260, 
an  assembly  of  the  nobility  meeting  at  Oxford,  the  king 
was  obliged  to  swear  to  certain  articles  in  favour  of  the 
subject.  But  this  agreement  being  more  by  compulsion 
than  inclination,  on  the  king's  part,  he  took  the  first 
opportunity  of  acquainting  the  pope  with  what  had  been 
done  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  desired  to  be  freed  from 
the  obligation  of  the  oath  he  had  taken  at  Oxford. 
The  pope,  who  was,  at  this  time,  Alexander  IV.,  having 
considered  the  nature  of  the  oath,  that  it  had  somewhat 
of  force  attending  it,  and  that  the  concessions  were  the 
demands  of  rebels  against  their  lawful  sovereign,  imme 
diately  declares  the  oath  not  to  be  binding.  This  way 
of  proceeding  hugely  provoked  the  barons,  who  were 
resolved  either  to  regain  their  liberties,  or  throw  away 
their  lives  after  them.3  In  the  meantime,  the  bishops 

1  Id.  646,  649,  732—734.  2  Id.  845,  846. 

3  [There  are  several  inaccuracies  in  this  passage.  1.  It  was  in  1258,  not  in 
1260,  that  Henry  was  compelled  to  swear  that  he  would  observe  the  provisions 
of  Oxford.  2.  Hence  the  rupture  between  Henry  and  the  barons  was  not  the 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  123 

both  of  England  and  France  laboured  very  hard  to  make 
up  the  breach;  and  it  was  agreed  by  both  parties  to 
have  the  cause  heard  before  Louis,  king  of  France,  who 
was  to  be  a  kind  of  umpire  between  them.  Accordingly, 
a  great  many  of  the  nobility  and  bishops  were  ordered 
to  meet  at  Amiens,  in  Picardy,  where  the  king  and 
queen  of  England  were  also  present.  In  the  conclusion, 
the  cause  went  against  the  barons,  and  the  Oxford 
articles  were  declared  void ;  yet,  in  favour  of  the  people's 
liberties,  the  charter,  called  Magna  Charta,  first  granted 
by  king  John,  and  since  confirmed  by  the  present  king, 
was  to  remain  in  its  full  force.  However,  this  decree 
at  Amiens  was  far  from  giving  content  to  the  barons, 
who  immediately  flew  to  arms,  and,  excepting  a  few 
that  took  part  with  the  king,  the  rest  were  resolved  to 
venture  their'Iives  and  fortunes  in  the  cause,  being  led 
on  by  Simon  Montfort,  earl  of  Leicester,  who,  with  his 
son  Simon,  junior,  appeared  as  bold  advocates  for  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  In  the  beginning,  namely,  in  the 
year  1264,  the  barons  were  so  successful,  as  to  get  not 
only  the  king,  but  also  his  brother  Richard,  and  prince 
Edward,  into  their  power.  Pope  Urban  IV.,  being  ac 
quainted  with  these  proceedings,  orders  his  legate, 
cardinal  Guido,  to  pass  over  into  England,  and  endea 
vour  a  reconciliation ;  but  the  barons,  suspecting  that 
this  would  turn  to  their  disadvantage,  ordered  a  strict 
watch  to  be  kept  in  all  the  cinque  ports,  to  hinder  the 
legate's  landing,  who,  soon  after,  called  several  bishops 
out  of  England ;  and  an  assembly  being  held,  first  at 
Amiens,  and  afterwards  at  Boulogne,  all  the  subjects  of 
England,  that  had  taken  up  arms  against  the  king,  were, 
by  the  pope's  authority,  excommunicated.  In  the  mean 
time,  prince  Edward,  having  made  his  escape  out  of 
prison,  appeared  at  the  head  of  a  good  army,  wherewith 
he  attacked  the  barons'  forces,  commanded  by  the  earl 

consequence  of  the  unsuccessful  termination  of  the  war  with  France ;  but 
arose  out  of  circumstances  wholly  unconnected  with  that  event.  3.  The  object 
of  the  barons,  though  nominally  to  secure  the  liberties  of  the  people,  was,  in 
reality,  to  overturn  the  throne,  and  usurp  the  whole  power  and  authority  of  the 
government.  See  Lingard,  ii.  324— 333.— 71.] 


124  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

of  Leicester,  who  lost  his  life  in  the  engagement.1  Some 
of  our  historians  give  a  mighty  character  of  this  Simon 
Montfort,  earl  of  Leicester ;  especially  that  writer, 
who  carries  on  the  history  of  Matthew  Paris,  who  would 
make  us  believe,  that  he  was  as  much  in  the  favour  of 
heaven,  as  of  the  people  ;  that  he  wrought  several  mira 
cles,  which  no  one  durst  speak  of  till  after  the  king's 
death ;  in  fine,  that  he  engaged  in  the  war  against  the 
king,  by  the  advice  and  persuasion  of  that  learned 
and  religious  bishop  of  Lincoln,  Robert  Grosseteste,  or 
Greathead.  By  these  particulars,  it  appears,  that  our 
historian  was  a  friend  to  the  patriots  of  those  days,  and 
willing  to  lay  hold  of  any  story  that  would  give  a  repu 
tation  to  the  cause.2 

Prince  Edward  having  set  his  father  at  liberty,  by 
the  late  advantage  he  obtained  over  the  barons,  a 
parliament  meets  at  Westminster,  where  it  was  decreed, 
that  the  lands  belonging  to  the  rebellious  barons  should 
be  confiscated.  Yet  this  did  not  entirely  put  an  end 
to  the  war;  Simon  Montfort,  junior,  still  maintained  the 
cause.  In  the  year  1265,  pope  Clement  IV.  sends  over 
Ottoboni,  cardinal,  and  legate,  who  excommunicates  all 
those  that  were  still  in  arms  against  the  king.  Soon 
after,  Simon  Montfort,  junior,  makes  his  submission, 
and  remits  his  cause  to  the  determination  of  the  pope's 
legate  and  the  king  of  Germany.  Afterwards,  the  barons' 
interest  began  to  dwindle  away  very  much ;  yet  there 
was  a  party  that  still  kept  the  field,  for  they  could  riot 
digest  the  confiscation  of  their  estates.  In  the  year 
1267,  the  legate  Ottoboni  calls  a  synod,  which  met  at 
Northampton,  wherein  some  of  the  bishops  and  inferior 
clergy,  that  had  adhered  to  the  barons,  were  excommu 
nicated  ;  but  they  despised  the  sentence,  appealing  to 
the  pope,  to  a  general  council,  and,  as  Matthew  Paris's 
continuator  reports,  if  that  would  not  do,  they  appeal 
ad  summumjudicem.  By  degrees,  the  king  brought  all 
his  enemies  under  his  feet ;  and,  in  the  year  1269,  prince 
Edward,  having  obtained  his  father's  leave,  took  a  reso- 

1  Paris,  Cont.  850,  851,  855;  Westm.  387,  388;  Wikes,  58,  59,  62,  64,  C7, 
70,  71 :  Annal.  Wavcrl.  219,  220. 
855. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  125 

lution  to  go  into  the  holy  war ;  and,  to  enable  him  to 
carry  on  that  enterprise,  the  dukedom  of  Aquitaine  was 
pledged  to  St.  Louis,  king  of  France,  for  a  sum  of  money. 
King  Henry  III.  died,  November  26,  1272,  in  the 
fifty-sixth  year  of  his  reign,  aged  sixty-five.1  He 
has  the  character  of  being  a  religious  prince,  insomuch, 
that  Matthew  Westminster  would  have  us  believe  he 
wrought  miracles.2  However,  many  passages  of  his  life 
make  it  appear,  that  he  had  a  great  regard  both  for 
religion  and  those  that  practised  it.  The  respect  he 
showed  to  St.  Louis,  king  of  France,  and  the  intimacy 
that  was  between  them  two,  shows  what  sort  of  com 
pany  king  Henry  was  most  delighted  with ;  for,  though 
they  were  often  at  war,  yet  they  never  broke  in  upon 
the  gospel,  as  to  brotherly  love.  And,  though  king 
Louis,  by  the  great  advantage  he  had  over  king  Henry, 
often  obliged  him  to  make  several  submissions  (a  thing 
not  very  agreeable  to  persons  exalted  in  power),  yet 
this  was  so  far  from  exasperating  king  Henry,  that,  in 
any  other  matter,  which  did  not  regard  the  point  in  de 
bate,  Louis  was  the  great  friend  and  adviser,  to  whom 
he  applied  himself.  Walsingham,  who  gives  us  an  ac 
count  of  king  Henry's  private  life,  tells  us,  that  he 
usually  attended  at  three  masses  every  day,  and  was  accus 
tomed  to  kiss  the  priest's  hands,  out  of  the  great  respect 
he  had  for  the  blessed  sacrament.  The  same  author 
reports,  that,  in  a  certain  conference,  these  two  great 
kings  had,  upon  the  practices  of  religion,  Louis  asked 
the  other,  why  he  chose  to  hear  so  many  masses  rather 
than  sermons  (the  latter  being  a  duty  king  Louis  was 
much  delighted  in)  ?  King  Henry  replied,  that  he  would 
rather  converse  with  his  friend  face  to  face,  than  only 
hear  of  him  by  another  hand.3 

But  to  proceed  to  the  works  of  piety,  which  showed 
themselves  in  this  king's  reign.  The  king  himself 
founded  a  noble  hospital,  called  St.  John's,  near  the  east- 


1  Paris,  856,  857,  858,  859,  860 ;  Wikes,  73,  74,  75,  90,  98  ;  Annal.  Waverl. 
220,221. 

2  P.  401.  3  Walsing.  43,  ed.  Camd. 


126  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

gate,  in  the  city  of  Oxford.  In  his  reign,  also,  were 
founded  Delacres  abbey,  by  Ranulphus,  third  earl  of 
Chester;  the  hospital,  called  St.  Mary's  Spital,  near 
Bishopsgate,  London,  by  Walter  Browne,  a  citizen,  and 
Rosia,  his  wife  -,1  Hales  abbey,  in  Gloucestershire,  by 
Richard,  earl  of  Cornwall ;  Newenham  abbey,  in  Devon 
shire,  by  Reginald  de  Mohun,  earl  of  Somerset ;  St. 
Giles's  hospital,  in  Norwich,  by  Walter  de  Suffield,  the 
bishop  of  the  place,  who,  at  his  death,  gave  all  his  plate 
to  the  poor ;  Maidstone  hospital,  by  Boniface,  arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury  ;2  Glaseney  college,  in  Cornwall, 
by  Walter  Bronescomb,  bishop  of  Exeter;  a  nunnery 
called  Tarent,  in  Dorsetshire,  by  Richard  Poor,  bishop 
of  Durham,  who  also  founded  a  hospital,  near  Vaux 
college,  in  Salisbury  ;  and  Gritham  hospital,  by  Robert 
Stichill,  bishop  of  Durham,  who  had  a  contest  with 
king  Henry  III.,  about  lands  forfeited  upon  account  of 
rebellion,  which,  by  ancient  grants,  belonged  to  the  see 
of  Durham.  He  had  a  decree  in  his  favour,  concerning 
the  lands  of  Simon  Montfort,  earl  of  Leicester,  whose 
estate  was  confiscated.3 

In  that  great  contest,  which  happened  in  this  reign, 
between  the  church  of  England  and  the  see  of  Rome, 
concerning  papal  provisions,  and  other  matters  of  com 
plaint,  I  meet  with  several  bishops  of  remarkable  learn 
ing  and  virtue,  that  opposed  the  pope  ;  particularly, 
Richard  Wethershed,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who 

1  Stowe  informs  us,  that,  at  the  dissolution,  it  was  provided  with  180  well 
furnished  beds  for  the  poor. 

2  It  was  afterwards  made  a  collegiate  church,  for  secular  clergy,  by  William 
Courtney,  archbishop  of  Canterbury.     Tanner,  224. 

3  Dugd.  Monast.  i.  and  ii.  in  locis;  Tanner,  71,  107,  116,  224,  605  ;  God 
win,  743.     [It  was  during  the  present  reign,  that  the  two  religious  orders  of 
St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic  were  first  introduced  into  England.     The  former, 
whose  members  were  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  Friars  Minors,  had  been 
instituted  by  St.  Francis  in  his  native  city,  Assisium,  had  been  approved  by 
Innocent  III,  in  1207,  and  had  rapidly  spread  through  Bologna,  Florence,  Pisa, 
and  other  cities  of  Italy.     The  latter  was  generally  denominated  the  order  of 
Friars  Preachers.  It  was  originally  established  by  St.  Dominic,  at  Toulouse ;  and, 
having  successfully  opposed  the  Albigenses,  and  other  heretics,  in  Languedoc, 
was  confirmed  by  Honorius  III,  in  1216.     In  the  next  year,  a  colony  of  the 
brethren  settled  in  Canterbury.     They  were  followed,  in  1224,  by  a  small  body 
of  Franciscans :  and  the  two  orders  gradually  extended  themselves  to  every 
part  of  the  kingdom.     Knighton,  2421;  Harpsfield,  452.— TV) 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  127 

expressed  himself  with  a  great  deal  of  heat,  on  the 
king's  admitting  such  a  vast  number  of  Italians  into  the 
best  benefices.1     St.  Edmund,  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
also,  equally  regarded  for  his  learning  and  piety,  was  so 
zealous  in  the  cause,  that  it  created  him  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  ;  so  that  he  was  obliged,  at  length,  to  retire  to 
the  monastery  of  Pontigny,  in  France,  where  he  died, 
in  1240,  after  a  very  austere  life,  and  was  canonized  by 
pope  Innocent  IV.,  in  1246.2    Another,  that  appeared  for 
the  liberties  of  the  church  of  England,   was  Robert 
Greathead,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  took  two  journeys  to 
Rome,  purposely  to  make  complaints,  and  subsequently 
sent  a  very  sharp  letter  to  pope  Innocent  IV.,  wherein 
he  taxeth  him  with  oppression ;  which  so  excited  the 
pope,  that  he  threatened  the  bishop  with  excommunica 
tion,  which  he  escaped  merely  by  the  advantage  of  his 
character.3     Matthew  Paris,  who  was  his  contemporary 
and  acquaintance,  tells  us,  that  he  was  one  of  the  best 
scholars  of  the  age,  and  that  his  life  was  primitive,  and 
an  example  to  future  ages.    This  worthy  prelate  founded 
the  nunnery  of  Grimsby,  and  died  in  the  year  1253.4 
Again,  we  have,  in  this  reign,  Walter  de  Cantilupe,  son 
of  William,  lord  Cantilupe  :  he  was  bishop  of  Worces 
ter,  and  strenuously  opposed  Otho,  the  pope's  legate, 
who  demanded  exorbitant  sums  from  the  English  clergy, 
and  alleged  such  reasons,  that  he  obliged  the  legate  to 

1  Paris,  312.     [Wethershed's  zeal  was  directed,  not  against  the  admission  of 
foreigners,  but  against  pluralities,  and  the  secular  employments  of  the  clergy. 
Ibid.— 71.] 

2  Paris,  476,  486,  626. 

3  Rapin  cites  the  annals  of  Lanercost  (Ang.  Sacr.  ii.  341),  where  it  is  said, 
that  bishop  Grosseteste  was  actually  excommunicated :  but  the  contest  went  no 
farther  than  threats.     [Even  the  fact  of  the  threat  may  be  doubted.     Paris, 
indeed,  not  only  asserts  it,  but,  in  the  speech,  which  he  puts  into  Grosseteste's 
mouth,  immediately  before  that  prelate's  death,  appears  to  intimate  that  the 
menace  had  then  been  carried  into  execution.     Innocent's  letter,  however, 
written  in  answer  to  Grosseteste's  remonstrance,  is  still  preserved  in  the  Burton 
Annals  (328,  et  seq.) ;  and  from  that  we  know,  that,  so  far  from  excommuni 
cating  the  bishop,  the  pontiff,  in  fact,  acknowledged  his  own  fault,  and  promised 
to  remedy  the  abuses  which  had  been  denounced. — 7YJ 

4  Paris,  535,  571,  749,  754.     [That  Grimsby  was  founded  by  Grosseteste, 
is  the  assertion  of  Speed  (1061) :  but  Tanner  has  shown  that  the  house  in  ques 
tion  was  in  existence  before  the  year  1185.     Notit.  Monast  274. — 7".] 


128  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

desist.1  About  the  same  time,  one  Sewal,  archbishop  of 
York,  who  had  been  scholar  to  St.  Edmund,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  was  so  zealous  in  opposing  the  pope  in 
the  case  of  provisions,  that,  at  last,  he  was  excommu 
nicated.  However,  he  submitted  himself  in  the  main, 
and,  before  he  died,  desired  to  be  absolved  ;  yet,  at  the 
same  time,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  pope,  whereby  he 
signified  what  his  sentiments  were,  as  to  the  great  op 
pression  the  church  of  England  lay  under.  He  died 
in  the  year  1258.2 

Several  other  remarkable  occurrences  happened  in 
these  days,  which  are  worthy  of  observation,  and  a 
great  many  persons  of  note  appeared,  who  ought  to  be 
remembered ;  among  whom  was  St.  Richard,  bishop  of 
Chichester,  an  account  of  whose  life  may  be  found  in 
our  historians,  to  whom  I  remit  the  reader.  However, 
before  I  conclude  this  reign  of  Henry  III.,  it  will  be 
requisite  to  make  mention  of  the  statute  of  Mortmain, 
which  prescribes  some  bounds  to  the  zeal  our  ancestors 
showed,  in  alienating  their  lands  for  pious  uses  ;  for  it 
had  been  found,  by  experience,  that  this  custom  was 
liable  to  several  abuses,  and,  among  others,  many  wor 
thy  families  had  been  impoverished  by  that  means.3 
By  this  statute,  which  was  made  the  9th  of  Henry  III., 
it  w^as  enacted,  that,  for  the  future,  no  lands  should  be 
settled  upon  any  religious  community,  without  the  ex 
press  license  of  the  chief  lord  of  the  fee.  Now,  as  this 
act  put  a  stop  to  the  multiplying  of  monasteries,  so  it 
made  way  for  the  introducing  of  the  mendicant  orders, 
which  now  began  to  gain  mightily  upon  the  nation.  I 
meet  with  some  writers,  who  ascribe  the  origin  of  the 

1  [In  this  passage,  Dodd,  with  his  eye  evidently  on  Godwin,  has,  by  mistake, 
confounded  two  separate  transactions.     Cantilupe  opposed  Otho,  not  on  the 
subject  of  the  papal  extortions,  but  on  the  reforms,  which  that  legate  wished 
to  introduce,  in  the  matter  of  pluralities.     It  was  to  the  demands  of  the  legate, 
Rustand,  in  1255,  that  he  was  more  creditably  opposed.  Paris,  378,786. — T.l 

2  Paris,  803,  820,  831. 

Among  other  inconveniences  in  the  founding  of  monasteries,  one  was,  the 
alienating  of  parochial  tithes  towards  their  support.  To  redress  this  and  other 
abuses,  a  national  council  was  held,  by  the  legate  Ottoboni,  in  1268,  the  twenty- 
second  canon  whereof  forbids,  for  the  future,  all  such  alienations.— Const.  Otto- 
bon.  apud  Lindewood,  Tit.  22. 


ART.  i,]  ENGLISH.  129 

statute  to  an  attempt,  which  either  the  mendicants,  or 
their  admirers,  made,  that  they  might  become  masters 
of  property  :l  for  the  wisdom  of  the  nation  considering 
what  a  vast  tract  of  land  was  already  in  the  hands  of 
churchmen,  they  apprehended,  that  the  engaging  beha 
viour  of  the  mendicants  would  still  add  to  the  inconve 
nience.  This  put  the  legislature  upon  making  the  re 
strictions  specified  in  the  statute  of  mortmain.  Such  a 
restraint  had  formerly  been  put  by  the  imperial  laws, 
under  the  emperor  Theodosius,  which  are  not  approved 
of  by  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Ambrose,  as  being  contrary  to 
the  best  purposes  of  life,  and  to  that  liberty,  which 
Constantine  the  Great  had  granted  to  all  the  faithful.2 
Neither  was  the  see  of  Rome  well  pleased  with  the  me 
thod.  However,  a  great  many,  wTho  were  esteemed 
both  wise  and  religious,  looked  upon  it  as  a  prudent 
provision ;  and,  if  I  mistake  not  the  matter,  most  na 
tions,  at  this  day,  take  the  same  caution  to  secure  the 
civil  interest,  and  guard  themselves  against  the  evils  that 
may  attend  frequent  and  improper  alienations.  The 
statutes  of  mortmain,  however,  were  not  completed  till 
the  year  1391,  the  fifteenth  of  Richard  II.3 

Edward  I.,   son  to  king  Henry  III.,  being  re 
turned  from  the  holy  war,  was  crowned  king  of 
England.     His  first  care  was  to  discharge  a  great  num 
ber  of  officers  of  state,  who  had  notoriously  abused 
their  power  in  the  late  reign,  and  against  whom  a  gene 
ral  complaint  had  been  made  by  the  people,  upon  the 

1  Antiq.  Britan.  in  Winchelsey. 

2  S.  Jerom,  epist.  ad  Nepotianum  ;  St.  Ambrose,  epist.  31.     [Dodd,  by  trust 
ing,  I  suspect,  to  the  fidelity  of  some  careless  or  dishonest  citation,  has  here  been 
singularly  unjust  to  the  opinions  of  these  saints.     Their  sentiments,  in  fact, 
are  the  opposite  of  his  description.     St.  Jerome  says  expressly,  "  Nee  de  lege 
conqueror,  sed  doleo  cur  meruerimus  hanc  legem.     Cauterium  bonum  est :  sed 
quo  milii  vulnus,  ut  indigeam  cauterio  ?     Provida,  severaque  legis  cautio,  et 
tamen  nee  sic  refrenatur  avaritia"  (Epist.  2,  ad  Nepot.).     St.  Ambrose  is  not 
less  explicit :  "  Nobis  etiam  privatae  successionis  emoluments,  recentibus  legibus 
denegantur,  et  nemo  conqueritur.     Non  enim  putamus  injuriam,  quia  dispen- 

dium  non  dolemus Soli  ex  omnibus  clerico  commune  jus  clauditur  .  ,  .  , : 

nulla  legata  vel  gravium  viduarum,  nulla  donatio Quod  ego,  non  ut 

querar,  sed  ut  sciant  quid  non  querar,  comprehendi.     Sola  sublata  sunt  prsedia, 
quia  non  religiose  utebantur  iis,  qua?  religionis  jure  defenderent." — Epist.  31, 
p.  119,  ed.  1555.— TV] 

3  See  Appendix,  No.  II. 

VOL.  I.  K 


130  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

king's  accession  to  the  crown.  In  the  year  1291,  a  full 
parliament  was  held  in  Northumberland,  where  all  the 
bishops  and  nobility  were  assembled ;  and  all  the  treaties 
between  England  and  Scotland  being  laid  before  them,  it 
was  decided,  that  the  Scottish  nation  had  constantly 
paid  homage  to  England.  Upon  which  it  was  resolved, 
that  the  usual  submission  should  be  demanded ;  and, 
in  case  of  refusal,  king  Edward  would  force  them  to  a 
compliance.  This  demand  happened  at  a  time,  when 
the  princes  of  Scotland  were  disputing  about  the  succes 
sion  ;  and,  till  that  point  was  determined,  they  complied 
so  far  as  to  make  a  provisional  submission,  which  was, 
in  the  following  year,  confirmed,  and  agreed  to,  by 
John  Baliol,  when  he  obtained  the  crown.1  Afterwards, 
the  Scots  having  made  a  league  with  France,  they  re 
fused  to  pay  homage  ;  and  a  terrible  war  ensued,  in 
which  the  Scots  were  reduced  to  the  last  extremity  ; 
king  John,  and  many  of  the  bishops  and  nobility,  were 
taken  prisoners,  and  all  the  strong  places  in  Scotland 
garrisoned  by  the  English.2  Meantime,  the  Scots,  to 
rescue  themselves  from  this  oppression,  applied  to  pope 
Boniface  VIII.,  and  gained  him  entirely  to  favour  their 
cause.  The  pope  demands,  that  all  the  bishops,  abbots, 
and  nobility,  that  were  prisoners,  should  be  released,  and 
the  English  governors  and  officers  be  called  home  out 
of  Scotland.  Moreover,  if  king  Edward  had  any  pre 
tensions  of  superiority  over  Scotland,  he  was  to  produce 
the  instruments  of  his  claim,  and  send  agents  to  Rome, 
where  the  cause  between  the  two  nations  should  be  heard, 
and  decided,  without  spilling  any  more  blood.  King 
Edward,  indeed,  condescended  so  far,  as  to  send  his 
letters,  and  the  grounds  of  his  claim,  to  Rome  :  but,  at 
the  same  time,  signified,  that  it  was  only  a  piece  of 
complaisance,  and  an  extrajudicial  enquiry  ;  for  he  was 
willing  his  holiness  should  be  fully  satisfied  concerning 
the  justice  of  his  pretensions  ;  though  otherwise,  he 

1  Rymer,  ii.  573,  590—595.     [There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the 
acknowledgment  of  Edward's  feudal  superiority  was  absolute,  not  "provisional." 
Wals.  55,  56;  Westm.  415,  416.—  T.'] 

2  Walsintf.  64—68. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  131 

said,  he  owned  no  submission  to  the  see  of  Rome,  in 
any  affair  of  that  kind.  These  letters  of  king  Edward 
were  seconded  by  a  common  letter,  from  all  the  nobility 
of  England,  wherein  they  assert  the  rights  of  the  crown 
of  England,  in  the  strongest,  but  very  mannerly,  terms, 
no  ways  derogatory  to  the  pope's  spiritual  authority. 
They  tell  him,  that  the  kings  of  England  never  were, 
nor  ever  will  be,  subject  to  any  power  on  earth,  either 
spiritual  or  temporal,  in  matters  purely  civil ;  and,  par 
ticularly  concerning  Scotland,  as  their  master  claimed 
homage  from  that  kingdom,  so  he  would  neither  send 
agents  to  Rome,  nor  admit  of  any  from  thence,  for  the 
decision  of  that  controversy.  But,  as  for  any  other 
instance  of  their  obedience,  they  acknowledged  them 
selves  entirely  devoted  to  the  see  of  Rome.1  After 
wards,  the  king  vigorously  pursued  the  war  with  Scot 
land,  and,  in  the  year  1304,  had  brought  them  totally 
under  subjection.  But  Robert  Bruce  being  placed  upon 
the  throne,  the  controversy  was  revived,  and  the  war 
rekindled  ;  during  which  contest,  king  Edward  died, 

1  Walsing.  80 — 85  ;  West.  437 — 444.  Nee  ullis  temporibus  ipsuin  regnum 
in  temporalibus  pertinuit,  vel  pertinet,  quovis  jure,  ad  ecclesiam  vestram  supra - 
dictam.  Quinimo  idem  regnum  Scotiae  progenitoribus  dicti  regis  nostri,  regi- 

bus  Angliae,  atque  sibi,  feodale  extitit  ab  antique; neque  reges  Angliae,  super 

juribus  suis  in  regno  praedicto,  aut  aliis  suis  temporalibus,  coram  aliquo  judice 
ecclesiastico  vel  saeculari,  ex  praeeminentia  status  suae  regiae  dignitatis  et  con- 
suetudinis,  cunctis  temporibus  irrefragabiliter  observatae,  responderunt,  aut 
respondere  debebant.  Unde  communis,  concors,  et  unanimis  omnium  nostrum 
et  singulorum  consensus  fuit,  est,  et  erit  inconcusse,  Deo  propitio,  in  futurum, 
quod  praefatus  dominus  noster  rex  super  juribus  regni  Scotiae,  aut  aliis  suis 
temporalibus,  nullatenus  respondeat  judicialiter  coram  vobis,  nee  judicium 
subeat  quoquo  modo,  aut  jura  sua  praedicta  in  dubium  qusestionis  deducat,  nee 
ad  praesentiam  vestram  procuratores  aut  nuncios  ad  hoc  mittat ;  praecipue  cum 
prsemissa  cederent  manifesto  in  exhoaredationem  juris  coronae  regni  Angliae,  et 
regiae  dignitatis,  ac  subversionem  status  ejusdem  regni  notoriam,  necnon  in 
praejudicium  libertatis,  consuetudinum,  et  legum  paternarum,  ad  quarum 
observationem  et  defensionem,  ex  debito  praastiti  juramenti,  astringimur ;  et 
quae  maim  tenebimus,  toto  posse,  totisque  viribus,  cum  Dei  auxilio,  defendemus. 
Nee  etiam  permittimus,  aut  aliqualiter  permittemus,  sicut  non  possumus  nee 
debemus,  praemissa  tarn  insolita,  indebita,  prsejudicialia,  et  alias  inaudita,  prae- 
libatum  dominum  nostrum  regem,  etiamsi  vellet,  facere,  seu  modo  quolibet 
attemptare.  Wals.  85. 

[It  is  only  right,  however,  to  add,  that  the  pope  asserted  no  claim  to  supe 
riority,  which  was  not  equally  acknowledged  and  asserted  by  the  Scottish 
government  itself.  "  Regnum  Scotiae  praecipuum  et  peculiare  allodium  ecclesiam 

Romanae in  temporalibus  immediate  subditum  ecclesiae  Romanae," — are 

the  words  of  the  Scottish  agents  at  Rome,     See  Fordun,  xi.  51,  53,  54,  56, 57, 
63.— r.] 

K  2 


132  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [FART  i. 

July  7,  1307,  aged  sixty-eight,  and  in  the  35th  year  of  his 
reign.  He  gave  tokens  of  his  martial  spirit  to  the  last ; 
for,  calling  his  son  Edward  to  him,  to  receive  his  last  in 
structions,  among  other  things,  he  charged  him  not  to 
make  peace  with  the  Scots,  till  he  had  made  them  submit; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  ordered  him  to  enclose  his  bones 
in  a  chest,  which  he  should  carry  along  with  him  through 
all  parts  of  Scotland,  for  victory  would  certainly  attend 
him  where  they  were  present.  King  Edward  had  made 
a  vow  once  more  to  engage  in  the  holy  war ;  but  the  wars 
with  Scotland  hindering  the  execution  of  that  design,  he 
ordered  his  heart  to  be  sent  into  Palestine,  with  the 
sum  of  £32,000  towards  the  maintenance  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  knights.1 

Notwithstanding  the  discouragement  that  was  given 
to  pious  foundations,  by  the  statutes  of  mortmain,  there 
was  still  room  left  to  carry  on  such  works,  under  the 
countenance  of  the  law.  Hence,  the  king  himself  be 
stowed  several  parcels  of  land  upon  the  abbey  of  West 
minster;  Bockland  abbey  was  founded  by  Amicia,  countess 
of  Devonshire,  in  1278;  and,  about  1280,  an  abbey  and 
college  in  Oxford,  for  the  members  of  the  Cistercian 
order,  was  erected  by  Edmund,  earl  of  Cornwall.  In 
this  reign  also  were  founded  several  schools  in  Cam 
bridge,  for  the  Carmelites,  or  white- friars,  for  the  canons 
of  Sempringham,  and  for  the  friars-penitents  of  the  sack ; 
St.  Peter's  college,  now  called  Peter-house,  in  the  same 
town,  by  Hugh,  bishop  of  Ely ;  a  convent  of  white-friars, 
at  Maldon,  by  Richard  Gravesend,  bishop  of  London, 
who  died  in  1 303  ;  Merton  college,  in  Oxford,  by  Walter 
de  Merton,  bishop  of  Rochester,  who  died  1277  ;  two 
colleges,  one  at  Abergwily,  the  other  at  Llandewybrevy, 
by  Thomas  Beck,  bishop  of  St.  David's  ;  and  Auckland 
church,  for  a  dean  and  canons,  by  Anthony  Beck,  bishop 
of  Durham,  who  endowed  it  with  lands,  forfeited  upon 
account  of  treason.  The  said  bishop  of  Durham  was 
also  the  founder  of  Alvingham  priory,  in  Lincolnshire.2 
Among  other  religious  foundations,  the  noble  crosses, 

1  Walsing.  93,  94  ;  Trivet,  347.  2  Tanner,  in  locis. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  133 

erected  by  king  Edward,  in  memory  of  his  queen  Eleanor, 
are  not  to  be  forgotten.  She  had  been  his  constant  com 
panion,  as  well  in  the  wars  abroad,  as  at  home,  and  was 
with  him  in  the  Holy  Land.  She  died  at  Herdeby,  in  Lin 
colnshire,  from  whence  her  corpse  was  conveyed  to  West 
minster,  and  crosses  erected  at  several  remarkable  places 
on  the  road,  viz.,  at  Lincoln,  Grantham,  Stamford,  Ged- 
dington,  Northampton,  Stonystratford,  Dunstable,  St. 
Alban's,  Waltham,  and  the  village  of  Charing,  on  the 
spot  now  known  as  Charing-cross.1  This  reign  was 
honoured  with  Roger  Bacon,  the  ingenious  grey-friar, 
who  died  1292.  To  him  we  may  join  Ralph  Baldock, 
bishop  of  London,  whom  John  Bale  makes  the  author 
of  a  chronicle  in  Latin  ;  and  Robert  Kilwardby,  a  black- 
friar,  who  was  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  erected 
and  countenanced  several  houses  of  the  mendicant  or 
ders  ; — one  of  black-friars,  at  Salisbury,  and  another  of 
grey-friars,  in  London.  He  was  a  learned  man;  wrote 
several  books  ;  and,  resigning  his  see,  was  called  to 
Rome,  and  made  a  cardinal.  His  successor  was  John 
Peckham,  a  grey-friar,  who  very  much  promoted  all  the 
mendicant  orders.2  And,  about  the  same  time,  lived 
St.  Thomas  Cantilupe,  bishop  of  Hereford,  of  noble 
extraction,  but  much  more  valuable  for  his  virtue  and 
learning.  His  tomb  is  yet  to  be  seen,  in  the  cathedral 
church  of  Hereford  ;  and,  as  Godwin  reports,  the  bishops 
of  that  see  have  ever  since  bore  his  arms,  in  honour  of 
so  worthy  a  person.  Another  pious  bishop  also  appeared 
in  this  king's  reign,  viz.,  Robert  Winchelsey,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  who  strenuously  opposed  king  Edward, 
when  he  seized  the  revenues  of  the  church,  not  only  of 
the  alien  priories,  but  of  some  that  belonged  to  Canter 
bury,  and  others.  This  at  length  was  the  occasion  of 
his  banishment.  However,  he  was  recalled  again  by 
king  Edward  II.,  and  all  his  losses  made  good.  Godwin 
gives  a  great  character  of  him  ;  that  he  was  a  stout  pre- 

1  These  crosses  were  erected  "  ut  a  transeuntibus  pro  ejus  anima  deprecare- 
tur."     Walsing.  55. 

2  Tanner,  609;  Collect.  Anglo-Minorit.  i.  104  —  116;   ii.  38;  Godwin,  in 
vit.  Baldock,  184. 


134  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

late,  and  a  zealous  reprover  of  vice  ;  that  he  opposed 
himself  against  Piers  Gaveston  and  Spencer,  two  great 
libertines,  who  seduced  king  Edward  II.,  and  corrupted 
the  court  by  their  scandalous  lives.  He  constantly  every 
week  allowed  bread  to  4000  poor  persons,  and,  in  times 
of  scarcity,  his  charity  was  more  extensive.1 

Edward  II.,  son  of  Edward  I.,  came  to  the  crown  in 
7  the  year  1 307-  From  the  very  beginning,  he  seemed 
but  little  inclinable  to  make  the  laws  of  the  nation  his 
rule ;  for,  immediately  after  his  father's  will  was  opened, 
finding  some  things  in  it  that  did  not  please  him,  he 
not  only  hindered  Walter  Langton  from  executing  it, 
but  sent  that  worthy  person  to  prison,  though  he  was 
both  bishop  of  Litchfield  and  lord  treasurer,  and  had  been 
appointed  executor  to  Edward  I.'s  last  will  and  testament. 
Afterwards,  the  king  behaved  himself  in  such  a  manner, 
that  the  nobility  suspected  that  he  would  become  more 
arbitrary  than  what  the  laws  of  the  land  would  permit ; 
wherefore,  a  parliament  being  assembled,  in  1311,  they 
obliged  him  to  swear  to  maintain  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
as  expressed  in  Magna  Charta,  accordingly  as  his  prede 
cessors  had  done  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  they  insisted 
upon  having  Piers  Gaveston  sent  into  banishment.  This 
Gaveston  was  the  king's  great  favourite,  who  had  not 
only  corrupted  him  as  to  his  morals,  but  had  put  him 
upon  several  methods,  that  were  both  destructive  to  the 
government,  and  private  property.  Gaveston,  indeed, 
was  banished,  but  quickly  recalled  again,  and  invested 
with  greater  power  than  ever  he  had  before.  Soon 
after,  the  nobility  enter  into  a  combination,  and  fly  to 
arms,  and  Gaveston,  being  taken  prisoner,  was  beheaded, 
nor  was  it  in  the  king's  power  to  save  his  life.  Mean- 

1  Godwin,  in  vit.  Cantil.  et  Winchels.  100—103,  486—488.  [With  the 
statutes  of  mortmain  the  reader  is  already  acquainted.  Some  other  laws, 
enacted  during  this  reign,  either  for  the  protection  of  the  church,  or  for  the 
repression  of  abuses,  will  he  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  III.  It  is  only  neces 
sary  to  premise,  in  reference  to  part  of  their  provisions,  that  the  jealousy, 
already  mentioned,  between  the  civil  and  spiritual  judicatures,  was  still  existing; 
that  the  former,  by  means  of  prohibitions,  was  in  the  constant  habit  of  staying 
proceedings  before  the  latter;  and  that,  by  this  means,  the  ordinaries  were  gra 
dually  deprived  of  almost  all  their  jurisdiction.  It  was  to  remedy  this  grievance, 
that  some  of  the  subjoined  statutes  were  drawn  up. — 7".] 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  135 

time,  the  pope's  legate  interposeth,  to  make  peace  be 
tween  the  king  and  the  nobility.  But  this  mediation 
was  not  regarded  by  the  nobility:  for  either  they  sus 
pected  the  see  of  Rome  of  partiality,  or,  what  they  chiefly 
insisted  upon,  no  foreign  power  should  concern  itself 
with  their  quarrels  about  the  meaning  of  their  laws, 
especially  since  they  had  many  learned  bishops  at  home, 
capable  to  give  them  advice.1  And,  indeed,  pope  Boni 
face  VIII.  still  supporting  the  Scots,  in  the  controversy 
about  homage,  this  might  make  the  English  nobility 
more  jealous  of  such  a  mediator.  At  last,  the  Eng 
lish  bishops  made  up  the  breach,  in  the  year  1313,  and 
there  was  a  pretty  good  understanding  between  king 
Edward  and  his  nobility,  till  1321,  when  another  war 
broke  out,  chiefly  upon  account  of  the  two  Spencers, 
father  and  son,  whom  the  king  relied  entirely  upon,  in 
all  affairs  both  public  and  private.2  While  these  divi 
sions  were  carrying  on  in  England,  Charles  IV.,  king  of 
France,  attacks  king  Edward's  dominions  abroad.  The 
pope  useth  his  endeavours  to  make  peace  between  them, 
but  to  no  eifect ;  upon  which,  Isabel,  queen  of  England, 
and  sister  to  the  king  of  France,  goes  over,  in  quality  of 
a  mediatrix,  taking  her  son,  prince  Edward,  along  with 
her.  They  made  up  matters  with  the  king  of  France, 
and  remained  abroad  a  whole  year.  During  which  time, 
king  Edward  was  informed,  that  his  queen  and  son  had 
fomented  a  party  against  him  ;  upon  which,  he  caused 
them  to  be  declared  traitors,  and  several,  who  were  sup 
posed  to  be  their  adherents  in  England,  were  sent  into 
banishment.  The  queen,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not 
unmindful  of  her  own  interest :  she  had  lately  promised 
her  son  in  marriage  to  Philippa,  daughter  of  the  earl  of 
Renault,  who  encouraged  her  to  seek  for  proper  satis 
faction  from  her  husband.  Wherefore,  returning  into 
England,  she  joined  with  the  discontentednobility.  Several 

1  Walsing.  95,  97,  98,  100,  101,  102.     Se  in  regno  multos  habere  probos  et 
literates  episcopos,  quorum  consiliis  uti  volebant,  et  non  extraneorum,  quibus 
non  esset  cognita  causa  commotionis  suse ;  praeciseque  dixerunt,  se  nullo  modo 
permissuros,  ut  aliquis  alienigena,  vel  forensis,  intromitteret  de  factis  suis,  aut 
quibuscumque  negotiiseos  tangentibus  infra  regnum. — Id.  102. 

2  Rot.  Parl.  iii.  361—365;  Walsing.  103,  113,  114. 


136  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PA HI •  i. 

of  the  bishops  also  went  over  to  the  party.  They  had 
raised  a  considerable  army,  in  a  very  little  time.  Several 
strong  places  were  delivered  up  to  the  queen,  and  some 
were  forced  to  surrender ;  among  others,  she  possessed 
herself  of  Bristol  castle ;  and  Hugh  Spencer,  senior, 
being  taken  prisoner,  to  appease  the  rage  of  the  people, 
was  immediately  exalted  upon  a  gibbet.  This  brought 
king  Edward  to  the  lowest  ebb  of  fortune,  so  that  he 
was  obliged  to  skulk  about,  with  a  few  of  his  friends ; 
nor  could  he  be  persuaded  to  make  his  appearance,  and 
come  to  a  conference,  though  the  queen  and  her  army 
frequently  invited  him,  with  a  promise,  that  he  should 
enjoy  his  crown  in  quiet,  provided  he  would  banish 
those  evil  advisers  from  the  court,  who  had  occasioned 
so  much  mischief  to  the  nation.  Afterwards,  an  as 
sembly  of  the  nobility  met  at  Hereford,  where  they 
declared  prince  Edward  guardian  of  the  kingdom,  and 
swore  allegiance  to  him.  King  Edward  being  soon  after 
seized  in  Wales,  together  with  Hugh  Spencer,  junior, 
and  some  others,  the  king's  favourites,  Spencer  was 
beheaded,  and  several  others  put  to  death.  In  the  year 
1327,  the  queen  and  prince  made  a  public  entrance  into 
London,  where  they  were  received  with  great  joy  and 
acclamation ;  and  an  assembly  of  the  nobility  being 
called,  it  was  declared  that  the  king  was  unfit  to  reign, 
that  he  ought  to  be  deposed,  and  his  son  placed  upon 
the  throne.  Meantime,  the  queen  seemed  displeased 
that  her  husband  should  be  deposed,  and  the  prince  was 
resolved  not  to  accept  of  the  crown  without  his  father's 
consent ;  upon  which,  representatives  were  sent  to  the 
king,  from  the  several  orders  of  the  nobility  and  com 
mons,  who  declared  to  him,  that  the  nation  were  una 
nimous  in  his  son's  election,  and  that  it  was  resolved  he 
should  abdicate.  The  king,  not  being  able  to  oppose 
these  proceedings,  agrees  to  what  they  had  done,  and 
resigns  the  crown  to  his  son  prince  Edward.  As  for 
king  Edward  II.,  he  was  still  kept  prisoner  in  Berkeley 
castle  ;  and  several  of  his  party  having  endeavoured  to 
release  him,  was  the  occasion  of  his  unfortunate  death, 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  137 

which  was  effected  by  having  a  red-hot  spit  run  up  ^ 
his  fundament.    It  is  thought  this  could  not  be  done 
without  the  privacy  of  the  two  noblemen ,  who  had 
charge  of  him ;  but  as  for  the  queen  and  the  young 
king,  Walsingham,  Knighton,  and  other  historians,  are 
willing  to  excuse  them.     King  Edward  II.  was  forty- 
three  years  of  age,  at  his  death,  and  had  reigned  nine 
teen  years.  His  son,  Edward  III.,  was  only  fourteen  years 
old,  when  he  began  to  reign.1 

The  reign  of  king  Edward  II.  being  under  continual 
disturbances,  from  the  nobility  that  opposed  his  minis 
try,  it  affords  us  very  little  concerning  the  advancement 
of  religion.  The  king  gave  the  palace  of  Beaumont,  in 
Oxford^  for  the  use  of  members  of  the  order  of  white- 
friars.  Hervy  de  Stanton  founded  the  college  called 
Michael  House,  in  Cambridge,  afterwards  incorporated 
in  Trinity-college.  Walter  Stapleton,  bishop  of  Exeter, 
founded  Hart-hall,  in  Oxford,  as  also  Stapleton's-inn, 
now  called  Exeter-college,  refounded  by  sir  William 
Petre,  in  queen  Elizabeth's  reign.2  Walter  Stapleton 
was  one  of  those  prelates  that  stuck  close  to  king  Ed 
ward  II.,  in  all  his  troubles,,  upon  which  account,,  he 
was  beheaded  by  the  rebels.  Historians  give  him  an 
excellent  character,  for  his  noble  birth,  wisdom,  learn 
ing,  and  piety.3  There  happened,  in  this  reign,  some 
disputes  between  the  clergy  and  laity,  concerning  juris 
diction.  The  clergy  complained,  that,  of  late,  since 
papal  provisions  were  not  so  frequent  as  formerly,  and 
that  the  legates  from  Rome  were  under  a  greater  res 
traint,  the  king  and  the  civil  magistracy  had  taken  that 
opportunity,  to  encroach  upon  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction, 
and  had  drawn  the  clergy  out  of  their  own  courts,  and 
made  them  too  much  subject  to  civil  inspection.  Where 
fore,  an  assembly  of  both  parties  was  held  at  Lincoln,  the 
ninth  of  this  reign,  and  a  statute  was  made,  specifying 
the  cases  in  which  the  king's  provisos  were  to  take  place, 
and  other  matters  adjusted,  concerning  tythes,  excom- 

1  Walsing.  120—123,  125,   126,   127;  Knight.  2543—2550,  2551;  Moor, 
.598—601,603. 

2  Tanner,  51,  431,  436.  3  Walsing.  124;  Godwin,  in  vit.  408. 


138  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

munications,  &c.     The  articles  were  sixteen,  and  were 
to  serve  as  a  barrier  between  the  two  powers.1 

The  suppression  of  the  famous  religious  order, 
2  called  Knights-templars,  happening  in  this  reign,  it 
will  not  be  improper  to  add  a  word  or  two  concerning 
them.  It  appears  to  have  been  the  unanimous  opinion  of 
the  judges,  that,  upon  the  dissolution  of  this  order,  its 
lands  might,  by  law,  revert  to  the  king,  or  the  original 
proprietors,  by  way  of  escheat.  But  the  members  of  the 
legislature  were  desirous  to  act  "  for  the  health  of  their 
own  souls,  and  discharge  of  their  consciences :"  the  lands 
in  question  were  bestowed  on  the  knights  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem,  called  "Hospitallers ;"  and  a  statute  was  made 
to  this  purpose.  The  particular  reasons,  alleged  for  not 
alienating  these  lands  from  the  church,  were,  because 
such  a  conveyance  would  not  discharge  the  obligations 
which  lay  upon  those  lands,  which  were,  to  defend 
Christianity,  largely  provide  for  the  poor,  and  pray  for 
the  souls  departed.  Had  king  Henry  VIII.,  upon  the 
general  dissolution  of  monasteries,  attended  to  this  sta 
tute,  or  the  reasons  which  induced  the  legislature  to 
make  it  (and  which  still  were  agreeable  to  his  princi 
ples),  it  might  have  thrown  a  scruple  into  his  head.  But 
this  is  a  fruitless  expostulation.  A  power  without  ap 
peal  is  not  solicitous  about  precedents  ;  and  those,  that 
have  power,  may  easily  invent  reasons,  to  put  a  gloss 
upon  their  actions.  If  you  put  them  to  a  non-plus,  an 
the  way  of  argument,  they  will  prove  above  your  match 
some  other  way.2 

Authors  are  divided  as  to  the  merits  of  the  cause,  and 
whether  the  Templars  were  so  criminal  as  they  are  re 
ported  to  have  been.  Those  that  plead  against  them 
allege,  that  the  pope  and  general  council  of  Vienna 
would  never  have  consented  to  their  dissolution,  unless 
upon  a  sufficient  conviction;  that  Philip  IV.,  king  of 
France,  otherwise  a  good  prince,  could  not  have  been 
provoked  by  some  disrespectful  words,  uttered  by  per 
sons  of  that  order,  to  prosecute  them  in  the  manner  he 


See  Appendix,  No.  IV.  3  See  Appendix,  No.  V. 


ART.  r.]  ENGLISH.  139 

did ;  that;  though  many  of  them  denied  the  crimes  they 
were  charged  with,  even  at  the  place  of  execution,  there 
are  instances  of  such  a  behaviour  in  persons  who  were 
manifestly  guilty.  Again,  some  historians  affirm,  that 
they  did  own  their  crimes.  Lastly,  that  the  writers,  that 
speak  favourably  of  them,  were  either  schismatics,  or 
enemies  to  France.  On  the  other  hand,  those,  that 
plead  for  them,  allege,  that  a  private  resentment  of  the 
king  of  France  was  the  origin  of  their  prosecution  ;  that 
it  is  impossible  their  scandalous  behaviour  should  have 
been  concealed  so  long,  and  that,  among  so  many  thou 
sands,  there  should  not  be  found  some  good  men  to  im 
peach  the  rest.  Again,  their  accusers  were  profligate 
wretches,  abandoned  to  wickedness,  both  before  and 
after  ;  many  religious  persons  looked  upon  the  templars 
as  martyrs  ;  they  showed  resolution  under  insupportable 
torments  ;  those  that  were  tried  before  the  pope's  com 
missioners,  in  Spain,  Germany,  and  England,  were  all 
acquitted ;  that  the  king  of  France  seized  their  lands, 
and  would  not  yield  to  have  them  given  to  the  knights- 
hospitallers,  without  an  immense  sum,  by  way  of  equi 
valent,  which  was  a  token  of  his  avarice  in  the  prosecu 
tion  ;  that  when  the  Great  Master  suffered,  March  11, 
1314,  he  summoned  king  Philip  and  the  pope  to  God's 
judgment-seat;  and  that,  accordingly,  the  pope  died 
April  20,  and  the  king  November  29,  the  same  year. 
Lastly,  many  of  the  crimes  they  are  charged  with  are  so 
abominable  and  ridiculous,  and  so  incredible  of  them 
selves,  that  no  Christian,  or  man  of  sense,  can  be  judged 
capable  of  committing  such  facts.  As  to  England,  the 
chief  commissioner,  appointed  by  the  pope  to  hear  their 
cause,  was  William  Greenfield,  archbishop  of  York,  who, 
though  he  could  not  but  pronounce  sentence  against 
them,  as  to  the  dissolution  of  the  order,  yet  they  were 
all  acquitted  of  the  crimes  alleged  against  them  ;  so 
that  he  took  care  of  all,  in  his  diocese  ;  either  placing 
them  in  monasteries,  or  supplying  them  with  constant 
relief.1 

1  For  the  proceedings  against  the  English  knights,  see  Wilkins,  Concil.  ii. 
329—400. 


140  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

Edward  III.,  being  very  young  when  he  came  to 
7  the  crown,  met  with  those  difficulties,  which  are 
customary  in  all  reigns,  during  a  prince's  minority,  and, 
by  one  way  or  other,  affairs  were  so  ill  managed,  that 
he  was  obliged  to  make  a  very  disadvantageous  peace 
with  the  Scots,  and  part  with  that  ancient  claim  of 
homage,  which  that  nation  usually  paid  to  the  kings  of 
England.  Now,  though  this  peace  between  the  two 
nations  was  confirmed  by  king  David's  marrying  king 
Edward's  sister,  yet  it  continued  not  very  long ;  for,  in 
the  year  1 333,  a  war  began,  in  which,  the  English  being 
successful,  the  Scots  were  obliged  to  submit  to  terms.1 
In  the  year  1336,  king  Edward  III.  put  up  his  claim  to 
the  whole  kingdom  of  France,  in  opposition  to  the  pre 
tensions  of  Philip  of  Valois,  and  quartered  the  arms  of 
France  with  those  of  England.  Upon  this,  a  war  ensued, 
which  proving  to  be  very  chargeable,  the  king  found 
himself  obliged  to  demand  aid  from  his  subjects  ;  heavy 
taxes  were  imposed  upon  the  whole  kingdom ;  but  es 
pecially  the  clergy  thought  themselves  unreasonably 
dealt  with.  John  Stratford  was  then  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  who,  appearing  in  behalf  of  the  church, 
made  frequent  remonstrances  against  the  tax,  alleging, 
that  it  was  a  manifest  infringement  of  the  statutes  of 
Magna  Charta ;  and  he  went  so  far  in  the  opposition,  as 
to  pronounce  ecclesiastical  censures  against  those,  that 
were  concerned  in  oppressing  the  clergy.  This  beha 
viour  of  the  archbishop  hugely  provoked  the  king,  and 
brought  a  great  deal  of  trouble  upon  the  archbishop.2 

Besides  this  quarrel  the  king  had  with  the  clergy  at 
home,  he  had,  not  long  after,  a  great  contest  with  the 
see  of  Rome,  which  still  insisted  upon  the  claim  of  fill 
ing  up  certain  vacancies  in  the  church  of  England ;  and, 
though  several  remonstrances  had  been  made,  in  former 
reigns,  against  that  custom,  which  had  made  the  see  of 
Rome  relax  a  little  in  its  pretensions,  yet,  in  the  year 
1343,  Clement  VI.,  by  means  of  a  papal  provision,  no 
minated  two  cardinals  to  the  next  vacant  benefices, 

1  Rymer,  iv.  337 ;  Knight.  2552,  2553,  2563,  2564. 

2  Walsing.  136—143,  146,  147,  150—157;  Ang-.  Sac.  i.  21—38. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  141 

not  bishoprics,  or  abbacies,  which  should  be  of  the 
yearly  value  of  two  thousand  marks.  This  attempt  so 
exasperated  both  the  king  and  the  greatest  part  of  the 
nation,  that  the  cardinals'  agents  were  admonished  to 
leave  the  kingdom,  or  otherwise  they  should  be  impri 
soned.  Afterwards,  the  king,  by  the  desire  of  parlia 
ment,  sends  a  letter,  by  way  of  remonstrance,  to  his 
holiness,  wherein  he  takes  notice  of,  and  repeats,  the 
inconveniences  and  injustice  of  the  pope's  pretensions, 
in  disposing  of  ecclesiastical  dignities  and  benefices,  to 
foreigners  especially ;  that  it  was  a  custom  pernicious 
to  the  church ;  that  strangers  were,  not  without  grounds, 
suspected  to  be  enemies  to  the  government ;  that  they 
were  not  acquainted  with  the  language  of  the  country ; 
that  they  did  not  reside,  wrhich  occasioned  a  neglect  of 
discipline  ;  and  that  their  eyes  were  only  upon  the  re 
venues,  which  were  spent  abroad ;  that  many  other  great 
inconveniences  flowed  from  hence,  as  dilapidations, 
neglect  of  hospitality,  and  of  charity  to  the  poor ;  in 
fine,  that  the  king,  the  nobility,  and  others,  were  de 
prived  of  their  right  of  patronage,  to  which  they  were 
entitled,  by  original  deeds  of  foundations.  Farther,  the 
king  takes  the  liberty  to  put  his  holiness  in  mind,  that 
papal  provisions,  in  the  manner  they  were  claimed,  were 
contrary  to  the  ancient  laws  and  customs  of  England, 
whereby  it  was  ordered,  that  bishops,  abbots,  &c.  should 
obtain  their  dignities  by  election  of  chapters,  and  that 
both  the  popes  and  the  kings  of  England  had  frequently 
confirmed  and  agreed  to  that  practice.  In  answer  to 
this  remonstrating  letter,  the  pope  urgeth  custom  against 
custom,  adding,  that  the  honour  of  God,  the  benefit  of 
religion,  and  the  welfare  of  the  state,  were  interested  in 
providing  a  sufficient  maintenance  for  the  cardinals  of 
the  Roman  church.  Then  he  proceeds,  and  demands 
satisfaction  for  the  insult  that  was  offered  to  the  two 
cardinals,  in  the  persons  of  the  officers  that  acted  under 
them.1  In  conclusion,  the  king  was  resolved  to  put  an 
end  to  this  long  and  tedious  controversy,  which  had 

1  Rot.  Parl.ii.  144,  145;  Walsing.  161—163. 


142  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

given  great  disturbance  to  the  church  of  England,  for 
several  reigns  :  wherefore,  an  act  of  parliament  passed, 
in  the  year  1351,  whereby  all  provisions  to  ecclesiasti 
cal  benefices,  from  the  see  of  Rome,  were,  for  the  future, 
prohibited  with  severe  penalties.1  Yet  this  statute  was 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  VI.  [To  understand  the  progress  of  this  contest,  it  is 
necessary  to  revert,  for  a  moment,  to  the  last  year  of  Edward  I.  By  the  father 
of  that  monarch,  some  resistance  had  been  made  to  the  encroachments  and 
exactions  of  the  Roman  see :  but  the  evils,  which  Henry  had  only  partially 
checked,  soon  reappeared,  under  the  reign  of  his  successor;  and,  in  the  year 
1306,  a  petition,  embodying  the  principal  heads  of  abuse,  was  drawn  up  by  the 
lords  and  commons,  and  presented  to  the  king  at  Carlisle.  It  was  now  disco 
vered,  that,  besides  provisions  to  vacant  benefices,  there  were  other  no  less 
grievous  causes  of  complaint.  The  revenues  of  religious  houses  were  claimed 
by  the  pope,  for  the  maintenance  of  his  cardinals :  the  first-fruits  of  all  vacant 
benefices  were  demanded  and  seized :  the  grant  of  Peter-pence,  hitherto  fixed 
at  a  certain  sum,  was  sought  to  be  enlarged :  the  goods  of  persons  dying  intes 
tate,  and  of  others  whose  wills  bequeathed  property  only  for  general  purposes 
of  charity,  were  taken  and  appropriated :  and  a  variety  of  dishonest  expedients 
was  adopted,  for  supplying  the  wants  of  the  pontiff,  for  enriching  his  dependants, 
or  gratifying  the  cupidity  of  his  procurators.  Edward  expressed  his  willingness 
to  join  in  repressing  these  abuses ;  and  a  unanimous  resolution  was  entered  on 
the  rolls,  that  the  existence  of  such  "  grievances,  oppressions,  and  extortions," 
should  no  longer  be  tolerated  within  the  realm.  Testa,  the  papal  agent,  was 
then  called  in,  and  admonished.  He  was  forbidden  to  act  in  contravention  of 
the  expressed  determination  of  the  legislature :  he  was  commanded  to  revoke 
whatever  process  he  had  already  taken,  in  opposition  to  it ;  and  he  was  strictly 
enjoined  to  retain  the  monies  which  he  had  levied,  until  the  king  should  provide 
for  their  disposal.  To  complete  the  business,  writs  were  addressed  to  the 
sheriffs  of  the  different  counties,  ordering  them  to  arrest  all  persons  employed 
by  him  as  agents  or  collectors,  and  to  produce  them,  on  a  certain  day,  to  answer 
whatever  complaints  might  be  urged  against  them.  (Rot.  Parl.  i.  219 — 223.) 

With  the  proceedings,  instituted  in  consequence  of  this  measure,  we  are 
unacquainted.  Edward,  however,  died  in  the  following  July;  and,  for  the 
next  thirty-six  years,  the  legislature  appears  to  have  looked  in  silence,  if  not 
with  indifference,  on  the  still-encreasing  exactions  of  the  Roman  see.  At 
length,  the  "  provision "  in  favour  of  the  two  cardinals,  mentioned  in  the  text, 
roused  the  spirit  of  the  nation.  The  commons  addressed  the  king  in  a  short  but 
energetic  appeal :  they  denounced  the  system  of  "  provisions"  as  a  grievance, 
which,  in  future,  they  neither  could  nor  would  endure ;  and  they  requested  the 
monarch  forthwith  to  write  to  the  pontiff,  under  the  great  seal,  and  acquaint  him 
with  the  determination  of  the  country.  The  two  houses  then  proceeded  to  legislate 
on  the  subject.  The  act  of  Edward  I.  was  read,  and  an  additional  statute  was 
passed,  forbidding  any  person,  under  pain  of  forfeiture,  to  bring  or  receive  bulls, 
reservations,  or  other  letters,  or  to  accept  or  execute  provisions,  contrary  to  the 
rights  of  the  king,  and  the  liberties  and  welfare  of  the  people ;  directing  all 
such  instruments,  and  all  persons  bringing  such  instruments  into  the  country, 
to  be  seized,  wherever  found;  and  commanding  all  clerks  and  others,  who,  by 
virtue  of  such  letters,  should  presume  to  bring  actions  against  either  the  patrons 
of  benefices,  or  their  presentees,  to  be  arrested  as  offenders,  and  submitted  to 
the  judgment  of  the  king's  council  (Rot.  Parl.  ii.  144,  145).  In  the  following 
year  (1344),  this  statute  was  confirmed,  and  the  penalty  of  outlawry,  perpetual 
imprisonment,  or  abjuration  of  the  realm,  was  adjudged  again  stall  persons  who 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  143 

not  so  strictly  put  in  execution,  but  that  the  pope  was 
frequently  complimented  with  the  privilege  of  nomina 
ting  his  friends  to  several  ecclesiastical  dignities,  even 
till  the  days  of  king  Henry  VIII.  Neither  did  this  con 
test,  between  king  Edward  III.  and  the  see  of  Rome, 
hinder  his  majesty  from  showing  all  respect  that  was 
otherwise  due  to  his  holiness ;  particularly,  when  he 

should  violate  its  provisions,  as  well  as  against  any  provisor,  procurator,  executor, 
or  other,  who  should  venture  to  appeal  to  Rome,  from  the  decisions  of  the  king's 
courts  (ibid.  ii.  153).  Yet,  even  this  was  insufficient  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
the  evil.  In  1351,  the  complaints  of  the  people  called  for  a  new  enactment, 
and  the  statute,  mentioned  in  the  text,  was  accordingly  drawn  up  and  passed. 
It  was  followed,  two  years  later,  by  the  additional  provisions  of  another  act 
(see  Appendix,  No.  VII) :  these  were  succeeded  by  fresh  complaints,  which 
were  answered  by  fresh  laws  (stat.  38  Ed.  3.  st.  3) ;  nor  was  it  until  the  year 
1376,  that  a  treaty  between  Edward  and  the  pope  put  a  temporary  close  to  the 
dispute.  It  was  then  agreed,  that  the  pontiff  should  abandon  his  claim  to  first- 
fruits,  should  revoke  all  provisions,  which  had  not  actually  taken  effect,  and 
should  empower  the  bishops  to  reserve,  out  of  the  revenues  of  all  cardinals, 
holding  benefices  in  England,  a  sufficient  sum,  to  provide  for  the  repairs  and 
maintenance  of  the  church.  (Rymer,  vii.  83 — 88;  Walsing.  188.) 

"  In  the  obstinacy,"  says  Dr.  Lingard,  "  with  which  the  court  of  Rome  urged 
the  exercise  of  these  obnoxious  claims,  it  is  difficult  to  discover  any  traces  of 
that  political  wisdom,  for  which  it  has  been  celebrated.  Its  conduct  tended  to 
loosen  the  ties  which  bound  the  people  to  the  head  of  their  church,  to  nourish  a 
spirit  of  opposition  to  his  authority,  and  to  create  a  willingness  to  listen  to  the 
declamations,  and  adopt  the  opinions,  of  religious  innovators.  To  disputes 
respecting  the  questionable  limits  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  jurisdictions, 
succeeded  a  more  important  controversy  on  points  of  doctrine :  and,  before  the 
close  of  Edward's  reign,  a  new  teacher  (Wycliffe)  appeared,  who  boldly  rejected 
many  of  the  tenets,  which  his  countrymen  had  hitherto  revered  as  sacred ;  whose 
disciples,  for  more  than  a  century,  maintained  a  doubtful  contest  with  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  authorities ;  and  whose  principles,  though  apparently  eradi 
cated,  continued  to  vegetate  in  secret,  till  the  important  era  of  the  reformation." 
(Hist.  iii.  157,  158.) — The  reader,  who  shall  be  disposed  to  wonder  at  the 
facility,  with  which  the  religion  of  the  country  was  ultimately  overturned,  will 
do  well  to  bear  this  in  recollection. 

I  cannot  close  this  note,  without  remarking  on  a  passage  in  Mr.  Butler's 
Memoirs  of  English  Catholics,  wherein  he  tells  us,  that  there  is  "  some  rea 
son  for  supposing  that  the  papal  provisions  were  rather  a  general  benefit,  than 
a  general  grievance,  to  the  nation."  His  reason  for  this  assertion  is,  that,  from 
the  period  of  the  conquest  to  the  reign  of  the  third  Edward,  all  the  higher 
dignities  of  the  church  were  conferred  exclusively  upon  Normans,  and  that,  as 
these  spoke  no  language  common  to  the  bulk  of  the  nation,  "  the  Norman  was 
as  much  a  stranger  as  an  Italian ;"  whilst  the  latter,  both  from  his  conciliating 
manners,  and  from  the  circumstance  of  his  mission  from  the  sovereign  pontiff, 
would  necessarily  prove  more  acceptable,  than  any  "  member  of  the  oppressing 
caste."  (vol.  i.  pp.  37,  38).  In  answer  to  this  reasoning,  it  is  sufficient  to  ob 
serve,  that,  in  most  instances,  the  foreign  beneficiaries,  of  whom  he  speaks, 
resided  abroad,  and  that,  of  course,  therefore,  the  nation  was  deprived  of  any 
advantage,  which  might  have  arisen  from  their  presence,  as  members  of  a  body 
less  odious  to  the  people  than  their  conquerors. — 7".] 


144  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

entered  into  a  war  with  France,  upon  account  of  a  claim 
he  had  to  the  whole  kingdom,  he  thought  it  proper  to 
send  ambassadors  to  Rome,  to  acquaint  his  holiness  writh 
all  the  particulars  of  his  pretensions,  and  to  consult  him 
upon  the  affair,  not  as  a  judge,  but  as  a  common  father, 
and  friend  to  both  parties.  This  war  with  France  con 
tinued  during  the  reigns  of  Philip  of  Valois,  and  John 
king  of  France,  arid  king  Edward  was  always  successful. 
Fortune  also  favoured  him  in  the  wars  he  had  with  the 
Scots;  for,  in  the  year  1356,  Edward  Baliol,  king  of 
Scotland,  not  only  paid  homage  to  king  Edward,  but,  in 
a  very  solemn  manner,  transferred  the  supreme  dominion 
upon  him.  In  the  year  1370,  the  war  was  renewed 
with  France,  wherein  king  Edward  was  not  so  success 
ful  as  formerly.  His  adversary  was  Charles  V.,  a  prince 
of  singular  parts,  who  made  himself  considerable  both 
in  the  field  and  the  cabinet,  and  drove  king  Edward  out 
of  the  greatest  part  of  Aquitaine.  What  contributed  to 
make  him  unfortunate,  towards  the  latter  end  of  his 
reign,  was,  the  infirmity  of  age,  and  the  passion  he  had 
for  women.  To  remedy  the  first  incapacity,  he  com 
mitted  the  whole  management  of  affairs  to  the  duke  of 
Lancaster,  by  whom  a  parliament  was  summoned,  in 
1377,  and  the  greatest  tax  laid  upon  the  people,  both 
clergy  and  laity,  that  England  ever  experienced.  This 
made  his  subjects  very  uneasy.  Then,  as  to  the  pas 
sion  he  had  for  the  female  sex,  he  was  so  carried  away 
by  Alicia  Ferrers,  one  of  his  mistresses,  that  she  was 
either  introduced,  or  forced  herself,  into  all  assemblies 
where  state  affairs  were  transacted ;  and,  even  when  the 
king  lay  upon  his  death-bed,  she  would  not  be  denied 
admittance,  nor  suffer  others  to  have  any  private  dis 
course  with  him ;  so  that  he  died  without  receiving  the 
last  sacraments,  June  21,  1377,  having  reigned  fifty-one 
years.1 

The  reign  of  king  Edward  III.  is  remarkable  for  the 
number  of  pious  foundations,  some  whereof  were  owing 
to  the  king  himself,  others  to  his  subjects.  Those 

1  Walsing.  145,  171,  184—189,  190,  191,  192. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  145 

founded  by  the  king,  were,  King's  Hall,  in  Cambridge, 
afterwards  refounded  by  king  Henry  VIII.,  and  had  the 
name  of  Trinity  College ;  the  collegiate  church  at  Wind 
sor  ;  a  monastery  of  Cistercian  monks,  near  East  Smith- 
field,  in  the  year  1359,  called  St.  Mary  of  Grace,  or 
Eastminster;  St.  Stephen's  chapel,  in  Westminster,  made 
collegiate  for  secular  canons,  with  large  endowments  ;  a 
nunnery  at  Dartford,  in  Kent ;  a  hospital  for  the  poor 
in  Calais,  called  Maison  de  Dieu,  and  several  others.  The 
colleges,  hospitals,  and  monasteries,  founded  by  his  sub 
jects,  were,  a  hospital  near  Leicester,  for  100  infirm 
persons,  by  Henry,  earl  of  Lancaster,  about  1331 ;  El- 
sing  Spital,  or  priory,  near  Cripplegate,  in  London,  for 
merly  a  nunnery,  now  rebuilt,  and  refounded  for  regular 
canons,  and  a  number  of  poor,  by  William  Elsing,  a 
mercer  of  the  city,  who  became  the  first  prior ;  and  the 
Charter-house,  near  London,  for  Carthusian  monks,  by 
Walter  de  Manny,  in  the  year  1371.  He  had  formerly 
been  a  general  in  the  wars  abroad.  Upon  the  dissolu 
tion  of  monasteries,  in  Henry  VIII. 's  reign,  it  was  be 
stowed  upon  sir  Edward  North.  From  him  it  was  pur 
chased  by  Thomas,  duke  of  Norfolk,  whose  son,  the  earl 
of  Suffolk,  sold  it  to  Mr.  Sutton,  who  generously  con 
verted  it  into  a  hospital,  with  large  revenues.  There 
was,  moreover,  Cobham-college,  founded  by  sir  John 
Cobham  ;  Stratford-college,  at  Stratford-upon-Avon,  by 
John  Stratford,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  being  the 
place  of  his  birth ;*  St.  Bartholomew's  hospital  at 
Hythe,  in  Kent,  by  Haymo  Hyth,  or  Heath,  bishop 
of  Rochester;  Durham-college,  in  Oxford,  by  Thomas 
Hatfield,  bishop  of  Durham,  for  scholars  of  Durham 
abbey  (it  is  now  called  Trinity-college,  and  was  re- 
founded  by  sir  Thomas  Pope) ;  a  convent  of  white- 
friars,  at  Northallerton,  in  Yorkshire,  by  the  afore 
said  Thomas  Hatfield,  bishop  of  Durham,  who  died 
in  1381  ;  Canterbury-college,  in  Oxford,  by  Simon 
Islip,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  for  scholars  sent  from 

1  Godwin,  speaking  of  this  prelate,  says,  never  any  one  that  sat  in  his  see 
took  more  pains  to  please,  nor  was  more  undeservedly  persecuted.  De  Praesul. 
in  vit.  107. 

VOL.  I.  L 


146  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

the  abbey  of  Canterbury  ;  a  monastery  of  Carthusians, 
at  Avignon,  in  France,  by  Simon  Langham,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  who  was  created  cardinal  in  1368  ; 
Edindon  monastery,  for  the  religious,  called  Bon- 
hommes,  by  William  Edindon,  bishop  of  Winchester,  who 
died  in  1366  ;  St.  Michael's  hospital,  near  Salisbury,  by 
Ralph  Erghum,  bishop  of  Salisbury ;  New-college,  in 
Oxford,  by  William  of  Wickham,  whose  true  name  was 
Perot,  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  who  also  was  the 
founder  of  Winchester-college,  near  the  city  of  Win 
chester,  and  died  in  1404  (he  had  a  great  many  ene 
mies  to  struggle  with,  and  underwent  great  persecutions, 
yet  ended  his  days  in  peace) ;  the  college  of  St.  Mary 
Ottery,  by  John  Grandison,  bishop  of  Exeter ;  and  Tri 
nity-hall,  in  Cambridge,  by  William  Bateman,  bishop  of 
Norwich,  who  also  removed  Gorivile-hall,  founded  by 
Edmund  de  Gone  vile,  in  honour  of  the  annunciation  of 
the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  to  its  present  situation,  near 
Trinity-hall.  It  was  afterwards  augmented  and  en 
larged  by  the  learned  John  Caius,  a  physician,  and  has 
since  been  known  as  Gonvile  and  Caius-college.1 

It  is  observable,  in  this  reign  of  Edward  III.,  what 
may  be  taken  notice  of,  in  that  of  several  other  kings. 
If  the  see  of  Rome  and  the  clergy  seem,  sometimes,  to 
have  encroached  upon  the  civil  magistracy,  the  church 
has  often  a  great  deal  of  reason  to  make  the  same  com 
plaint.  When  Edward  III.  seized  the  revenues  of  alien 
priories,  upon  account  of  the  war  with  France,  the  law 
fulness  of  such  a  seizure  is  not  very  intelligible  ;  as 
also  the  forbidding  of  the  payment  of  Peter-pence, 
which  amounted  to  three  hundred  marks  a  year,  was 
contrary  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  all  his  predecessors ; 
and  had  he  not  restored  the  church  to  her  rights  again, 
in  those  particulars,  the  age  he  lived  in  would  have  re 
presented  him  as  an  enemy  to  ecclesiastical  liberties. 
The  courtiers,  indeed,  at  this  time,  were  disposed  to 
buzz  many  things  in  the  king's  ear,  that  were  prejudi 
cial  to  the  church  ;  in  which  they  were  encouraged  by 

1  Tanner,  in  locis ;  Godwin,  348  ;  Pennant,  176. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  147 

a  flattering  divine,  called  John  Wycliffe,  and  the  witty 
satires  of  Sir  Geoffrey  Chaucer,  who  took  all  occasions 
to  lessen  the  power  of  churchmen,  and  ridicule  their 
character.  John  Wycliffe  was  a  person  of  some  learn 
ing,  but  of  more  pride,  who,  being  disappointed  of  a 
-mitre,  took  that  popular  way  of  ingratiating  himself 
with  men  of  power  amongst  the  laity.  He  died  in  the 
following  reign  of  king  Richard  II.,  in  the  year  1384, 
and  had  his  bones  taken  up,  and  burnt,  in  the  year 
1435.1  As  for  Sir  Geoffrey  Chaucer,  he  was,  according 

1  [John  de  Wycliffe  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  about  the  year  1328,  in  a 
village  of  the  same  name,  not  far  from  Richmond,  in  Yorkshire.  His  studies 
at  Oxford  were  commenced  in  Queers-college  :  thence  he  afterwards  removed 
to  Merton-college ;  and,  in  that  seminary,  soon  became  distinguished  among 
his  contemporaries  for  the  brilliancy  of  his  talents,  and  the  splendour  of  his 
various  acquirements.  But  it  was  about  the  year  1360,  that  his  name  first 
attracted  the  attention  of  his  countrymen.  To  the  unwise  demands  of  the 
popes,  mentioned  in  a  preceding  note,  the  conduct  and  privileges  of  the  religious, 
and  particularly  of  the  mendicant  orders,  had  added  another,  perhaps  less 
general,  but  certainly  not  less  serious,  cause  of  complaint.  In  the  infancy  of 
their  establishment,  the  zeal,  the  piety,  and  the  learning  of  the  friars  had  won 
the  admiration  of  the  people.  But  they  were  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  bishops ;  they  were  allowed  to  interfere  in  the  duties  of  the  parochial  clergy ; 
and,  as  the  first  fervour  of  the  institute  abated,  these  privileges  were,  in  many 
instances,  unscrupulously  employed  in  elevating  their  own  body,  and  depressing 
that  of  the  ordinary  pastors  (compare  Paris,  353,  541,  607,  608,  with  Peter 
des  Vignes,  Epist.  37,  and  the  letter  of  St.  Bonaventure,  Opusc.  ii.  352,  Ed. 
Paris,  1647).  It  was  at  the  moment  when  the  irritation,  caused  by  these  pro 
ceedings,  was  at  its  height,  that  Wycliffe  stood  forth,  to  lash  the  degeneracy  of 
the  obnoxious  orders.  The  immediate  cause  of  his  interference  was,  in  itself, 
unimportant  —a  claim,  set  up  by  the  friars,  to  graduate  at  the  university,  with 
out  complying  with  its  statutes:  but  it  served  as  an  introduction  to  other  topics; 
it  enabled  him  to  attack  the  vices,  no  less  than  the  immunities,  of  his  opponents; 
and,  accordingly,  their  indolence,  their  luxury,  their  avarice,  their  rapacious 
acts  and  hypocritical  pretences,  became  successively  the  object  of  his  coarse, and 
perhaps  exaggerated,  invectives.  Nor  were  motives  of  private  resentment  wan  ting, 
to  stimulate  and  increase  his  hostility,  if  not  against  the  friars,  at  least  against 
the  other  orders  of  religious.  Simon  Islip,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had 
founded  a  hall, in  Oxford,  fora  warden,  eight  secular,  and  three  regular, scholars; 
and  Woodhall,  a  monk  of  Christchurch,  had  been  appointed  the  first  warden. 
In  1365,  however,  the  founder  removed  both  Woodhall  and  the  monks;  the 
wardenship  was  conferred  on  Wycliffe;  and  the  places  of  the  religious  were 
filled  by  three  clerks  from  the  respective  dioceses  of  York,  Sarum,  and  Oxford. 
But  Islip  died  in  the  following  year,  and  Wycliffe  and  his  fellows  were,  in 
turn,  ordered  to  surrender  their  preferment  to  the  original  possessors.  Wycliffe, 
however,  appealed  to  the  pope :  the  case  was  referred  to  cardinal  Adruinus, 
who  was  commissioned  by  the  pontiff  for  that  purpose;  and  a  long  and  tedious 
examination  into  the  claims  of  the  contending  parties  immediately  ensued.  At 
the  end  of  more  than  three  years,  judgment  was  given  in  favour  of  the  monks, 
and  Wycliffe,  with  his  associates,  was  expelled. — Lewis,  8 — 15,  235 — 246. 

With  the  exception  of  a  "  determination,"  asserting  the  prerogative  of  the 
crown  against  the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  see,  his  writings  had  hitherto  been 

L  2 


148  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

to  the  style  of  those  days,  esteemed  an  excellent  poet, 
and,  being  infected  by  Wycliffe,  could  not  fail  of  being 

directed  solely  against  the  religious  orders  :  but,  in  1 374,  he  was  placed  on  the 
commission,  appointed  to  negociate  the  treaty,  already  alluded  to  (p.  143,  note), 
between  Edward  and  the  pontiff;  and,  soon  after  his  return,  we  find  him 
including  both  the  pope  and  the  secular  clergy  in  his  violent  and  indiscriminate 
invectives.  The  former  he  styled  "  Antichrist,  the  most  cursed  of  clippers  and 
purse-kervers"  (Lewis,  34) :  the  latter  he  denounced  as  "  fulfilling  the  fiend's 
cruelty,  by  suffren  Christian  souls  be  strangled  with  wolves  of  hell,  thorough  their 
dumbness  and  occupying  about  the  world"  (ib.  39).  He  said,  that  they  "  made 
themselves  most  unable  to  keep  the  gospel  of  Christ,  by  their  great  business 
abouten  rotten  goods"  (ib.  37) ;  that  many  of  them  could  neither  repeat  "  the 
ten  commandments,  ne  read  the  sauter,  ne  understond  a  verse  of  it"  (ib.  38) ; 
and  he  concluded  that,  in  these,  as  in  other  cases  of  default  or  delinquency,  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  temporal  lord  to  deprive  them  of  their  tithes  and  possessions 
(ib.  266).  It  is  scarcely  surprising,  if  such  doctrine  at  length  awakened  the  ap 
prehensions  of  the  clergy.  To  arrest  its  progress,  Wycliffe  was  summoned,  in 
1377,  to  answer  for  his  opinions  before  Sudbury,  the  primate,  and  Courtney, 
bishop  of  London.  But  the  reprimand,  which  he  then  received,  was  insufficient 
to  restrain  him.  Only  a  few  months  later,  a  list  of  eighteen  propositions, 
selected  from  his  writings,  was  laid  before  Gregory  XL :  the  pontiff  commanded 
him  to  be  arrested  and  examined;  and  a  second  trial  was  followed  by  a  second 
reprimand,  and  an  order  to  be  more  cautious  in  his  language  for  the  future. 
(Walsing.  191,  201—208 ;  Lewis,  42—63,  254—267 ;  Harpsfield,  683).  That 
order,  however,  was  not  obeyed.  In  1381,  his  opinions,  on  the  subject  of  the 
eucharist,  attracted  the  attention,  and  provoked  the  censures,  of  the  university 
of  Oxford  (Spelman,  ii.  627;  Lewis,  268).  In  the  following  year,  other 
parts  of  his  doctrine  were  submitted  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  a  synod 
of  divines,  specially  convened  for  the  purpose ;  and  twenty-four  '  conclusions,' 
maintained  by  himself  or  his  disciples,  were  condemned,  ten  as  heretical,  four 
teen  as  erroneous  and  irreconcileable  with  the  received  opinions  of  the  church. 
From  this  sentence  he  appealed,  first  to  the  protection  of  the  duke  of  Lancaster, 
and  afterwards  to  that  of  the  parliament.  Lancaster,  however,  refused  to  lend 
his  assistance :  the  parliament  contented  itself  with  repealing  an  informal  sta 
tute,  lately  passed  against  the  new  teachers ;  and  the  king  despatched  a  letter 
to  Oxford,  requiring  the  chancellor  to  expel  Wycliffe,  with  his  followers,  from 
the  university,  and  ordering  all  books,  treatises,  and  other  writings  of  the  late 
professor,  to  be  forthwith  seized  and  transmitted  to  the  primate.  Wycliffe  now 
reluctantly  consented  to  retract  his  errors.  In  the  presence  of  the  archbishop 
and  six  bishops,  accompanied  by  the  chancellor,  a  large  body  of  doctors,  and  a 
numerous  concourse  of  spectators,  he  read  a  confession  of  faith,  and,  retiring 
to  Lutterworth,  of  which  he  was  the  rector,  passed  the  two  remaining  years  of 
his  life  in  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  his  own  opinions.  He  died  of  an 
apoplectic  attack,  on  the  31st  of  December,  1384.— Lewis,  83—93,  272,  286; 
Rot.  Pai-1.  iii.  124,  125,  141 ;  Harpsf.  685,  686. 

Wycliffe  has  been  called  the  father  of  the  Reformation  in  this  country.  That 
his  doctrines  laid  the  foundation  of  that  extraordinary  event,  there  can  be  little 
doubt :  that  his  opinions,  however,  on  the  most  essential  points  of  subsequent 
controversy,  were  opposed  to  those  of  the  later  reformers,  is  equally  certain. 
With  them,  indeed,  he  condemned  the  tenet  of  transubstantiation :  he  de 
nounced  indulgences,  pilgrimages,  and  the  use  of  holy  water :  he  denied  the 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  see,  and  appealed  to  the  scripture,  as  the  sole  and 
undoubted  rule  in  matters  of  belief.  But  here  the  resemblance  terminates. 
On  the  subject  of  the  eucharist,  he  appears  to  have  entertained  the  notion, 
afterwards  adopted  by  Luther,  and  to  have  maintained  the  existence  of  the 


AIM.  i]  ENGLISH.  149 

acceptable  to  the  libertines  of  the  court.  However, 
this  reign  did  not  want  persons  of  singular  merit, 
which  has  recommended  them  to  posterity.  Among 
these,  was  Richard  Angarvill,  bishop  of  Durham,  son  of 
Sir  Richard  Angarvill;  he  was  commonly  called  Ri 
chard  de  Bury,  from  the  town  where  he  was  born.  He 
was  a  person  universally  qualified,  a  great  scholar,  able 
minister,  and  zealous  prelate  ;  he  wrote  much  ;  had,  as 
it  is  said,  more  books  than  all  the  other  bishops  in  Eng 
land  ;  erected  a  noble  library  in  Oxford,  with  a  salary 
for  five  persons  to  take  care  of  it,  and  which  continued 
entire,  till  it  was  plundered  and  destroyed  by  the  re 
formers,  in  Edward  VI. 's  reign.  He  constantly  enter 
tained  a  number  of  learned  men  in  his  family,  and  kept 
a  correspondence  with  others  abroad,  as  Francis  Pe 
trarch,  &c.  He  had  often  been  employed  in  public 
affairs,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  His  family  was  ma 
naged  with  singular  exactness  ;  there  was  constant 
reading  during  meal-times  ;  and  afterwards,  he  con 
ferred  with  his  chaplains  upon  the  subject.  He  was 
profusely  charitable  to  the  poor,  and  died  in  the  year 
1345,  leaving  behind  an  example,  which  few  could  come 
up  to.  Another  prelate  of  note,  in  those  times,  was 

bread,  in  conj  unction  with  the  reality  of  Christ's  presence,  on  the  altar.  He 
admitted  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  Catholic  church  :  he  believed  in  purga 
tory,  as  a  place  of  temporary  punishment:  he  asserted  the  efficacy  of  the  mass, 
as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice ;  and  he  zealously  inculcated  the  duty  of  sacramental 
confession,  "  with  contrition  for  sins  before  don,  and  good  life,  and  keeping 
God's  hests,  and  works  of  mercy  after"  (Apud  Lewis,  78,  124, 127,  129,  136, 
137,  140).  In  these  doctrines  it  is  impossible  to  trace  the  features  of  the 
English  Reformation :  it  is  equally  hopeless  to  seek  them  in  his  recorded  opi 
nions  on  the  subject  of  grace,  on  dominion  or  the  right  to  property,  on  the 
power  of  the  people  to  depose  a  ruler  who  may  have  been  guilty  of  mortal  sin, 
or  on  the  criminality  of  those  ministers  of  religion,  who  permit  themselves  to 
be  endowed  with  temporal  possessions.  But  truth  is  not  essential  to  the  cha 
racter  of  a  modern  apostle,  as  conformity  of  belief  is  not  the  test  of  modern 
orthodoxy.  If  the  opinions  of  Wyclifte  were  inadmissible,  his  example,  at 
least,  might  entitle  him  to  praise.  By  his  opposition,  he  had  severed  himself 
from  the  church  of  Rome ;  and  it  is  "  the  humour  of  some  men,"  says  the 
protestant  Heylyn,  "  to  call  every  separation  from  that  church  the  gospel : 
the  greater  the  separation,  the  more  pure  the  gospel."  (Animadvers.  on  Ful 
ler,  65). 

For  a  more  detailed  account  of  Wycliffe's  doctrines  and  opinions,  the  reader 
may  consult  Walsingham,  191,  204—208,  246,  283—286;  Knighton,  2647,  et 
seq. ;  Browne's  Fascicul.  rer.  expetend.  i.  190 — 295;  and  Lewis,  42 — 46, 
78—81,  89—91,  113— 142.— T.] 


150  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

Thomas  Bradwardin,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who, 
according  to  the  account  Godwin  gives  of  him,  was  a 
good  mathematician,  a  great  philosopher,  and  so  excel 
lent  a  divine,  that  he  is  commonly  called  Doctor  pro- 
fundus  ;  but  chiefly  to  be  recommended  for  his  sincerity 
in  conversation,  and  innocent  life.  To  these  we  may 
join  Thomas  Lylde,  a  black-friar,  bishop  of  Ely,  who 
being  persecuted  by  the  king,  at  the  instigation  of  a 
great  court  lady,  who  had  seized  some  of  his  temporals, 
he  appealed  to  the  pope,  and  those  concerned  in  the 
injustice  were  excommunicated,  and  obliged  to  make 
restitution.1 

Richard  II.,  who  next  ascended  the  throne,  was 

1^77 

grandson  to  king  Edward  III.,  and  son  of  Edward, 
called  the  Black  Prince.  During  his  minority  (for  he 
was  only  eleven  years  of  age  when  he  was  proclaimed 
king),  his  uncles  took  care  of  the  government.  John 
Wycliffe,  who  showed  himself  in  the  late  reign,  began 
now  to  spread  his  opinions  more  openly  ;  and  being  too 
much  countenanced  by  the  duke  of  Lancaster,  one  of 
the  king's  uncles,  who  was  too  apt  to  give  ear  to  every 
thing  that  lessened  the  authority  of  churchmen,  he,  by 
this  means,  was  screened,  and  talked  on,  without  fear  of 
being  called  to  an  account.  In  the  year  1 385,  it  ap 
peared  what  influence  Wycliife's  doctrine  had  over 
several  persons  of  distinction ;  for  a  parliament  being 
assembled,  and  a  subsidy  agreed  upon  for  the  king,  in 
which  the  clergy  were  to  be  put  upon  the  same  footing 
with  the  laity,  William  Courtney,  archbishop  of  Canter 
bury,  opposed  the  method,  alleging,  that  it  was  con 
trary  to  the  liberties  of  the  church,  and  that  he  would 
sooner  lose  his  life,  than  consent  to  have  the  clergy 
charged  with  taxes,  in  the  manner  they  proposed.2  On 
the  other  hand,  several  of  the  parliament  men,  who  had 
been  educated  in  Wycliffe's  school  (who  pretended, 

1  Godwin,  in  vit.  Angarv.  Braclw.  et  Lylde,  112,  261,  747. 

2  [The  laity  were  to  contribute  a  fifteenth-and-a-half:  the  clergy  a  tenth-and- 
a-half  (Walsing.  320).     Courtney,  in  the  first  place,  objected  to  the  inequality 
of  the  assessment ;  and,  in  the  next,  asserted  the  right  of  the  clergy  to  tax 
themselves.— TV) 


AIM.  i.]  ENGLISH.  151 

that  the  revenues  of  churchmen  were  mere  alms,  and 
that  they  had  no  strict  right  to  them),  bawled  out,  that 
the  bishops  and  clergy  ought  not  only  to  be  included  in 
the  general  tax,  but  to  be  stripped  of  all  their  temporals, 
in  order  to  make  them  more  humble.  But,  in  the  con 
clusion,  archbishop  Courtney  not  only  baffled  these 
wretched  politicians,  but  gained  immortal  honour,  by 
making  so  noble  a  stand.  However,  to  show  that  the 
clergy  were  willing  to  come  into  all  measures,  that  were 
judged  necessary  to  support  the  interest  of  their  coun 
try,  they  made  a  voluntary  offering  of  a  very  large  sum  ; 
which  so  pleased  the  king,  that  he  vowed  he  made 
more  account  of  it,  than  of  four  times  as  much  gathered 
by  compulsion.1 

1  Walsing.  320.  [It  is  necessary,  in  this  place,  to  resume  the  history  of  the 
dispute  with  Rome,  on  the  subject  of  "  provisions."  By  the  treaty,  mentioned 
in  a  former  note,  it  had  been  agreed  between  Edward  III.  and  Gregory  XI., 
that  all  reservations,  which  had  not  then  actually  taken  effect,  should,  from  that 
moment,  be  revoked.  The  stipulation,  of  course,  implied,  that  the  practice  of 
granting  provisions  should  in  future  be  abandoned :  but  Gregory  died  in  1378 ; 
and  Urban  VI.,  who  succeeded  him,  immediately  renewed  the  obnoxious 
custom.  To  one  of  his  cardinals  he  gave  the  rich  priory  of  Deerhurst :  on  ano 
ther  he  bestowed  the  archdeaconry  of  Bath,  with  a  reservation,  in  his  favour,  of 
the  first  benefice,  worth  2,000  florins  a  year,  which  should  become  vacant  in 
the  archdiocese  of  Canterbury.  These,  and  other  similar  acts,  roused  the  indig 
nation  of  the  people.  The  commons,  in  January,  1380,  addressed  the  king 
upon  the  subject :  they  assured  him,  that,  under  the  present  system,  every 
valuable  benefice  in  the  country  would  be  engrossed  by  foreigners ;  and  they 
induced  him  to  pass  a  new  statute,  declaring,  that,  if  any  person,  without  the 
express  permission  of  the  king  and  council,  should  farm,  or  administer,  the 
benefice  of  any  alien,  within  the  realm,  or,  by  virtue  of  such  farming  or  adminis- 
tiation,  should  convey  money  or  other  goods  out  of  the  kingdom,  he  should,  for 
such  transgression,  incur  the  penalties  prescribed  by  the  statute  of  provisors, 
and  be  placed  out  of  the  king's  protection  (Rot.  Parl.  iii.  82,  83.  Stat.  3,  Ric.  2, 
cap.  3).  Three  years  later,  it  was  found  necessary  to  extend  the  operation  of 
this  act  to  foreigners,  residing  on  benefices  obtained  by  provision  (Rot.  Parl. 
iii.  163,  Stat.  7,  Ric.  2,  cap.  12).  But  even  this  measure  was  ineffectual.  The 
power  of  dispensation,  conferred  by  it  on  the  crown,  became  the  fruitful  source 
of  collusion  between  the  English  and  Roman  courts;  and,  in  1390,  therefore, 
another  enactment,  adapted  to  the  peculiar  exigences  of  the  case,  was  drawn  up 
and  passed  (See  Appendix,  No.  VIII).  In  the  mean  time,  Urban  had  died ; 
Boniface  IX.  had  succeeded  to  the  papal  throne ;  and  a  fresh  attempt  was  now 
made  to  enforce  the  obnoxious  claim.  The  contest,  of  course,  was  renewed 
with  encreased  ardour.  Richard  immediately  issued  a  proclamation,  command 
ing  all  his  subjects,  resident  in  Rome,  to  return  to  England  before  the  feast  of 
St.  Nicholas;  those  who  enjoyed  benefices,  on  pain  of  forfeiture;  those  who 
were  not  so  provided,  on  pain  of  outlawry.  In  return,  the  pope  published  a 
decree,  declaring  the  proceedings  of  parliament,  in  this  matter,  to  have  been 
null  and  void  from  the  beginning' :  he  called  on  the  king  to  have  the  acts  rela- 


152  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [I-ART  i. 

It  is  here  to  be  remembered,  that,  in  former  reigns, 
there  had  been  many  contests  between  our  kings  and 
the  see  of  Rome,  concerning  the  right  and  custom  of 
nominating  persons  to  ecclesiastical  dignities,  which 
were,  in  a  great  measure,  put  an  end  to  by  the  statute 
of  provisors.  There  had,  in  like  manner,  been  frequent 
controversies  concerning  the  jurisdiction  of  the  pope's 
legates,  the  execution  whereof  had  been  often  corn- 
ting  to  provisors  forthwith  erased  from  the  statute-book;  and,  to  manifest  his 
own  determination,  he  granted  a  prebend  in  the  cathedral  of  Wells  to  Bran- 
caccio,  a  cardinal-deacon  in  the  church  of  SS.  Vitus  and  Modestus  (Wai sing. 
344,  345;  Raynald,  v.  162).  Brancaccio's  appointment  was  referred  to  the 
king's  courts,  and  the  provision  was  ordered  to  be  annulled :  but  the  pontiff,  so 
it  was  said,  had  threatened  to  excommunicate,  or  remove,  any  bishop  who  should 
venture  to  act  upon  this  judgment;  and,  in  the  next  parliament,  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  ask  the  advice  of  the  two  houses,  as  to  the  course  to  be 
pursued  in  this  emergency.  The  answer  of  the  several  estates  was  unanimous: 
the  proceedings  of  the  pontiff  were  illegal ;  his  attempt  to  control  the  decisions 
of  the  royal  courts,  by  intimidating  the  bishops,  was  subversive  of  the  rights  of 
the  crown ;  and  they  would  joyfully,  therefore,  stand  by  their  sovereign,  to  live 
and  to  die,  in  resisting  this  encroachment  on  his  authority.  The  last  of  the 
statutes  of  provisors  was  now  drawn  up.  After  reciting  the  various  abuses, 
against  which  it  was  directed,  it  proceeded  to  detail  the  opinions  of  the  two 
houses,  as  already  delivered  to  the  king.  It  asserted  the  utter  independence  of 
the  crown,  "  in  all  things  touching  the  regality  of  the  same ;"  it  denounced 
the  present  attempt,  as  calculated  to  place  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the  realm 
at  the  mercy  of  the  pope ;  and  it  concluded  by  enacting,  that,  if  any  persons 
should  purchase  or  pursue,  in  the  court  of  Rome  or  elsewhere,  by  any  trans 
lations,  processes,  or  sentences  of  excommunication,  either  bulls,  instruments, 
or  any  other  thing,  against  the  king's  crown  and  regality,  or  against  his  realm, 
as  aforesaid,  or  should  bring  them  into  the  kingdom,  or  receive,  notify,  or  exe 
cute  them,  either  within  the  realm  or  without,  such  persons,  their  notaries,  pro 
curators,  maintainers,  abettors,  fautors,  and  counsellors,  should  be  put  out  of 
the  king's  protection;  their  lands  and  tenements,  goods  and  chattels,  should  be 
forfeited  to  the  king ;  and  their  persons  should  be  attached,  wherever  they  might 
be  found  (see  Appendix,  No.  IX).  Unfortunately,  the  parliament  seems  to 
have  faltered,  in  the  execution  of  this  statute.  Instead  of  enforcing  its  provi 
sions,  the  commons  authorized  the  king  to  modify  them,  in  such  manner  as 
his  council  should  advise ;  and  the  popes,  apparently  encouraged  by  the  vacil 
lating  conduct  of  the  English  legislature,  still  persisted  in  renewing  the  contest 
on  every  opportunity  that  occurred  (see  Appendix,  No.  X).  At  length,  how 
ever,  the  dispute  was  brought  to  a  termination.  Disheartened  by  repeated  defeat, 
the  pontiffs  proposed  a  compromise :  the  statute,  with  the  advice  of  the  council, 
was  partially  qualified;  and  provisions,  except  in  favour  of  a  few  cardinals,  and 
of  such  natives  as  should  previously  have  obtained  the  royal  license,  were  for 
ever  abolished. 

Thus  closed  this  unwise  and  protracted  struggle.  But  its  consequences  still 
remained.  It  is  seldom  that  even  victory  can  obliterate  all  the  exasperating 
recollections  of  the  past  contest ;  and,  in  the  present  instance,  it  must  be  ac 
knowledged,  that  sufficient  of  the  unpopular  system  of  provisions  was  still 
retained,  to  embitter  those  recollections  both  in  the  minds  of  the  clergy,  and  in 
those  of  the  nation  in  general. — TV] 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  153 

plained  of,  both  by  our  kings,  and  all  the  bishops  of  the 
church  of  England,  who  oifered  plausible  reasons  for  a 
redress.     For,  though  they  owned  that  the  pope,  by  the 
strength  of  his  supremacy,  had  a  power  of  inspection 
over  the  whole  church,  and,  upon  this  view,  might  send 
legates  to  execute  his  orders,  yet,  by  erecting  courts  of 
judicature,  the  method  was  become  burdensome  and 
prejudicial,  both  to  the  rights  of  the  kings  of  England, 
and  all  the  bishops  of  the  realm.     Now,  several  incon 
veniences  were  mentioned,  which  pleaded  for  a  redress 
in  this  matter.     The  king  was  jealous  of  his  prerogative, 
while  causes  of  a  mixed  nature  were  to  be  tried  in  a 
foreign  court :  the  bishops  looked  upon  their  jurisdic 
tion  as  in  a  manner  precarious,  while  their  orders  might 
be  superseded,  in  any  trivial  matter,  by  one  of  the  pope's 
legates  :  appeals  to  Rome  were  very  chargeable,  and 
the  innocent  might  be  oppressed,  for  want  of  witnesses, 
who  could  not  make  their  appearance  at  so  great  a  dis 
tance.     I  am  not  ignorant,  that  several  protestant  wri 
ters  lay  that  stress  upon  the  act  against  appeals,  as  if  it 
were  a  plain  discarding  of  the  pope's  supremacy  :  but 
appeals  in  doctrinal  matters  not  being  touched  by  that 
act,  it  is  manifest  they  draw  a  wrong  inference  from  it. 
Legatine  courts,  and  appeals  to  Rome  in  point  of  bene 
fices,  patronage,  and  other  matters  of  discipline,  are  not 
allowed  in  several  other  kingdoms,  which,  notwithstand 
ing,  are  very  orthodox,  and  steady,  in  maintaining  the 
pope's  supremacy  in  all  doctrinal  points ;  and,  had  not 
a  person,  of  Henry  VIII. 's  temper,  thought  fit  to  put 
that  and  such  other  laws  in  execution,  as  they  often  had 
been  dispensed  with,  out  of  respect  to  the  see  of  Rome, 
so  that  custom  might  have   been  continued  to  after 
ages. 

But  to  return  to  the  remainder  of  Richard  II. 's  story. 
When  he  had  disgusted  the  major  part  of  the  nation, 
and  provoked  them  to  take  arms  against  him,  by  degrees 
he  was  reduced  to  such  straits,  as  to  be  obliged  to 
abdicate.  Nor  were  his  subjects  satisfied  with  a  bare 
abdication  :  they  drew  up  thirty-three  articles,  upon 
which  he  was  impeached,  in  a  solemn  manner ;  the 


154  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

general  import  whereof  was,  that  he  had  governed 
tyrannically,  and  had  violated  the  oath  made  to  his  peo 
ple.  They  went  upon  the  proof  of  these  articles,  which 
they  obliged  him  to  subscribe,  and  to  make  a  public  de 
claration  of  his  incapacity  for  governing.  Being  thus 
deprived  of  his  crown,  by  abdication,  as  also  by  a  public 
sentence  of  the  nobility  and  people,  Henry,  duke  of 
Lancaster,  his  uncle's  son,  though  not  the  next  in 
blood,  was  declared  king,  in  the  year  1399.1 
As  to  the  progress  of  religion,  in  this  reign,  we  meet 
with  very  few  pious  foundations.  There  was,  however, 
Sudbury-college,  for  secular  clergy,  established  by 
Simon  Sudbury,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  whose  true 
name  was  Theobald.  He  was  born  in  Sudbury,  and 
erected  his  own  dwelling  into  a  college.  This  worthy 
prelate  had  his  head  cut  oif,  by  the  rebel  Wat  Tyler,  in 
the  year  1381.  There  was  also  Maidstorie-college,  re- 
founded  for  secular  clergy,  by  William  Courtney,  arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury ;  and  a  college  near  the  cathedral 
church  of  St.  David's,  by  John,  duke  of  Lancaster,  and 
Adam  Houghton,  bishop  of  St.  David's.2 

Henry  IV.,  having  obtained  the  crown,  in  the  manner 
he  did,  could  not  but  meet  with  many  enemies  to  make 
his  reign  very  uneasy.  In  the  first  place,  there  were 
the  friends  of  king  Richard,  who,  though  he  was  de 
throned  and  kept  close  prisoner,  yet  were  in  hopes  of 
setting  him  at  liberty,  and  were  daily  contriving  ways 
to  effect  it.  Again,  had  the  deposition  of  king  Richard 
been  legal  and  uncontested,  Roger,  earl  of  March,  being 
next  to  the  crown,  by  lineal  descent,  was  a  sufficient 
ground  for  quarrelling  with  Henry.  Neither  were 
these  bare  apprehensions  of  danger  at  a  distance ;  he 
was  attacked  from  several  quarters.  In  the  north, 


1  Rot.  Parl.  iii.  416— 424.  One  of  the  articles  against  king  Richard  II. 
stands  thus:  "  Quamvis  corona  regni  Anglise,  et  jura  ejusdem  coronse,ipsumque 
regnum  fuerint  ah  omni  tempore  retroacto  adeo  libera,  quod  dominus  summus 
pontifex,  nee  aliquis  alius  extra  regnum  ipsum  se  intromittere  deheat  de  iisdem; 
tamen  praefatus  rex,  ad  roborationem  statutorum  suorum  erroneorum,  supplicavit 
domino  papae,  quod  statuta  in  ultimo  parliamento  suo  ordinala  confirmaret." 
Ibid.  419. 

a  Tanner,  224,  50J>,  720  ;  Walsing.  250,  251. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  155 

Percy,  earl  of  Northumberland,  in  conjunction  with 
some  eminent  men  of  the  clergy,  opposed  his  title  ;  the 
Welsh  gave  him  a  disturbance  in  the  west ;  and,  from 
abroad,  he  was  threatened  with  a  war  by  the  king  of 
France,  who  obliged  him  to  send  back  Isabella,  wife  to 
king  Richard  II.,  and  sister  of  Charles  VI.,  together  with 
her  portion,  jewels,  furniture,  &C.1 

The  death  of  king  Richard,  which  happened  in  a 
little  time,  freed  king  Henry  from  some  of  his  ene 
mies.  It  was  spread  abroad,  that  this  unfortunate 
prince,  becoming  melancholic,  refused  nourishment, 
and  so  starved  himself  to  death ;  but  some  tell  us,  he 
was  privately  made  away,  by  express  orders  of  king 
Henry.  But  I  do  not  pretend  to  decide  a  point,  in 
which  our  historians  are  divided.  Among  those  that 
opposed  the  king,  in  the  north,  were,  Richard  Scrope, 
archbishop  of  York,  and  Thomas  Merks,  bishop  of  Car 
lisle.  Scrope  was  beheaded  in  the  year  1405  ;  which  the 
pope  being  informed  of,  he  excommunicated  all  those 
that  were  immediately  concerned  in  his  death.  It  is 
observed  by  some,  that  he  was  the  first  bishop,  that  ever 
was  put  to  death  by  a  formal  trial  at  law.  As  for  Tho 
mas  Merks,  bishop  of  Carlisle,  he,  from  the  very  begin 
ning,  opposed  king  Henry's  title,  and  asserted  heredi 
tary  right  (against  that  which  was  only  popular),  in  a 
bold  speech,  which  has  perpetuated  his  memory.  The 
freedom  he  took  was  the  occasion  of  his  imprisonment ; 
but  being  released,  he  joined  himself  to  the  party  that 
appeared  in  the  field  against  king  Henry.  Afterwards, 
king  Richard's  friends  being  dispersed,  and  many  of 
them  taken  and  executed,  this  stout  prelate,  though  he 
was  deprived  of  his  see,  yet  was  pardoned,  and  ended 
his  days  in  quiet,  which  many  looked  upon  to  be  a 
providential  reward  of  his  constancy  and  fidelity  to  his 
old  master,  Richard  II.2 

1  Hardyng,  352;  Walsing.  364,  367,  368;  Rymer,  viii.  142,  152. 

2  Walsing.  363,  373;    Hall,  14;    Godwin,  in  vit.  Scrope  et  Merks,  690, 
691,  767.     [It  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  the  insurrection,  in  which  Merks 
was  concerned,  was  that  of  the  lords  appellants,  in  1400  ;  hut  that  the  affair,  in 
which  Hcrope  was  implicated,  did  not  occur  until  1405. — 71.] 


156  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

The  treasury  being  exhausted,  by  the  great  charges 
king  Henry  had  been  at,  in  bringing  those  under  sub- 
oct.  jection  that  opposed  his  title,  a  parliament  was 
1404  assembled  at  Coventry,  the  chief  design  whereof 
was,  to  raise  taxes,  in  order  to  supply  the  pressing  ne 
cessities  of  the  crown.  It  was  upon  this  occasion, 
that  some  of  the  laity  discovered  their  evil  designs 
against  the  church,  accordingly  as  they  had  been  seduced 
by  Wycliffe's  doctrine,  but  were  baffled  and  silenced  in 
open  court,  by  Thomas  Arundel,  archbishop  of  Canter 
bury.  "  The  king  began  to  hearken  (as  Godwin  reports 
the  matter)  to  the  sacrilegious  motions  of  certain  im 
pious  politicians,  that,  intending  to  cast  the  burden  of 
all  subsidies,  and  other  kind  of  tributes,  upon  the  clergy, 
letted  not  to  say  openly,  in  the  parliament-house,  how 
the  laity  was  not  able  to  yield  any  thing  to  the  king's 
coffers,  for  that  the  clergy  had  all  the  wealth  of  the  land 
in  their  hands  ;  and,  therefore,  the  king  must  either 
take  from  them  their  temporalities,  or  else  lay  all  the 
burden  upon  them  only,  that  were  able  to  bear  it.  The 
archbishop,  that  was  undoubtedly  a  worthy  prelate, 
wise,  and  very  stout,  rose  up,  and  proved  by  manifest 
arguments,  that  the  contributions  of  the  clergy  were, 
after  the  proportion  of  their  ability,  much  more  liberal 
than  the  subsidies,  or  the  payments  of  the  temporali 
ties,  in  many  respects  ;  'For  (saith  he)  we  pay  the  tenths 
for  livings,  oftener  than  they  pay  fifteenths  ;  and  though 
we  serve  not  in  the  wars  ourselves,  our  servants  and 
tenants  do  ;  neither  are  we  altogether  idle,  inasmuch 
as  we  pray  daily  for  the  king  and  realm,  as  well  in  time 
of  peace  as  war.'  The  prolocutor  of  the  lower  house 
of  parliament,  at  that  time,  was  a  knight,  called  sir  John 
Cheney,  that  having  been  a  clergyman  sometime,  with 
out  any  dispensation  forsook  his  calling,  and  became  a 
soldier.  This  profane  apostate  was  not  ashamed  to  say, 
6  It  was  no  matter  for  their  prayers,  so  the  king  might 
have  their  money.'  '  I  see  now,'  quoth  the  archbishop, 
'  whither  the  fortune  of  this  realm  tendeth  ;  the  prayers 
of  the  church  being  despised,  which  should  appease  the 
wrath  of  God,  justly  kindled  against  us  by  the  daily 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  157 

monstrous  iniquities  of  our  age.'  The  archbishop  then 
turning  him  about  to  the  prolocutor,  and  certain  other 
knights  of  the  lower  house  that  accompanied  him,  '  you 
it  was,'  said  he,  '  and  such  as  you  are,  that  persuaded 
the  last  king  to  take  into  his  hands  all  such  cells  in 
England,  as  appertained  to  any  religious  houses  of 
France  or  Normandy.  And  after  he  had  taken  that 
course,  he  was  not  the  value  of  half  a  mark  the  richer ; 
and  how  he  thrived  afterwards  otherwise,  I  need  not 
tell  you.' '  The  king  was  well  pleased  with  this  dis 
course  of  the  archbishop,  and  publicly  declared  he 
would  always  maintain  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
church.  Then  the  clergy  opened  their  purses,  and  con 
tributed  largely  towards  the  king's  necessities.1  After 
wards,  king  Henry,  finding  that  not  only  the  doctrine 
of  the  universal  church,  but  the  peace  of  the  kingdom, 
was  like  to  be  daily  more  and  more  disturbed  by  Wyc- 
liife's  opinions,  ordered  all  those  to  be  sought  after,  and 
prosecuted,  who  adhered  to  that  party.2 

It  was  king  Henry's  policy  to  make  what  friends  he 
could  abroad,  in  order  to  secure  himself  against  male- 
contents  at  home.  And,  upon  this  view,  he  was  not 
only  very  submissive  to  the  see  of  Rome,  but  much 
more  complaisant  than  some  of  his  predecessors  had 
been,  especially  in  regard  of  papal  provisions  ;  for,  con 
trary  to  the  late  laws  in  that  case,  he  had  permitted 
several  foreigners  to  possess  considerable  benefices,  upon 
the  pope's  recommendation.  This  complaisance,  the 
king  showed  to  the  see  of  Rome,  very  much  displeased 
the  English  clergy,  and,  in  particular,  archbishop  Arun 
del,  who,  though  he  was  entirely  devoted  both  to  the 
pope  and  king  Henry,  yet  remonstrated  strongly  against 
the  promotion  of  so  many  foreigners.  He  told  the  king, 
that  it  was  a  custom  both  dishonourable  and  detrimental 

1  Godw.  in  vit.  Arundel,  124.     [His  account  is  taken  from  Walsingham, 
371,  372.     I  should  add  that  the  name  of  the  speaker,  who  is  here  called  sir 
John  Cheney,  was,  in  fact,  sir  William  Sturmy.     Rot.  Parl.  iii.  546. — T.~\ 

2  [A  statute,  called  the  statute  de  heretico  comburendo,  was  passed  for  this 
purpose.     Rot.  Parl.  iii.  466,  467.     See  Appendix,  No.  XL     It  was  not  after, 
but  before,  the  dispute  between  Arundel  and  the  speaker  of  the  commons,  that 
this  statute  was  passed. — T.~] 


158  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PAUT  i. 

to  the  church  of  England,  and  not  a  little  lessening  to 
the  royal  prerogative  ;  that  it  made  studies  languish  in 
the  universities,  and  very  much  discouraged  the  English 
youth,  who  took  no  care  to  qualify  themselves,  when 
they  saw  so  many  foreigners  preferred  to  ecclesiastical 
dignities.  Many  other  reasons  w^ere  alleged,  to  the 
same  purpose,  and  which  formerly  had  prevailed  upon 
the  legislature  to  make  the  statute  of  pro  visors.1  In 
conclusion,  the  king  promised  that  these  matters  should 
be  redressed ;  and,  in  the  meantime,  he  concurred  with 
the  clergy  in  making  and  putting  in  execution  several 
useful  laws,  relating  to  the  discipline  of  the  church ;  some 
whereof  were,  that  benefices  should  not  be  appropriated 
to  any  convent,  or  capitular  body,  unless  a  sufficient 
endowment  was  first  settled  upon  a  vicar,  to  perform  all 
parochial  duties,  and  a  part  of  the  revenues  allotted  for 
the  benefit  of  the  poor  ;2  that  the  clergy  should  not  be 
drawn  out  of  their  own  courts,  to  answer  in  secular  tri 
bunals  ;3  and  that  no  one  should  be  admitted  into  any 
of  the  mendicant  orders,  without  the  consent  of  parents 
or  tutors,  nor  before  they  were  fourteen  years  of  age.4 
Notwithstanding  these  good  regulations,  there  were 
many  other  abuses,  which,  being  of  a  more  tender  na 
ture,  could  not  so  easily  be  redressed ;  they  were  such, 
in  which  the  king's  power  was  immediately  concerned. 
However,  in  the  year  1412,  Thomas  Arundel,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  calls  a  synod,  in  wrhich  several  articles 
were  drawn  up,  to  be  offered  to  the  king,  to  the  end  he 
might  see  justice  done  to  the  church,  which,  of  late,  had 
been  oppressed,  and  deprived  of  some  of  its  rights.  The 
particulars,  the  synod  insisted  upon,  were,  that,  when  a 
clergyman  was  found  to  be  a  delinquent,  his  tythes,  ob 
lations,  and  other  effects,  should  not  be  confiscated  to 
the  king's  use  ;  that,  when  there  was  a  design  of  adding 
to  the  temporalities  of  poor  vicars,  from  the  revenues 
of  churches  where  the  king  was  patron,  the  officers  of 

1  Harpsf.  618. 

2  Stat.  4  Hen.  4.  cap.  12.     [It  was,  however,  only  a  renewal  and  confirma 
tion  of  the  statute  15  Ric.  II.  c.  6.— 7VJ 

3  Ihid.  cap.  2  and  3. 

4  Ibid.  cap.  17 ;  Rot.  Parl.  iii.  502. 


ART.  i/J  ENGLISH.  159 

the  court  should  not  interpose,  as  they  had  done,  to 
obstruct  such  good  works ;  that,  when  ecclesiastical 
benefices  were  under  sequestration,  upon  account  of 
the  incumbent's  incapacity,  the  king  should  not  suffer 
any  rescript  to  come  out  of  any  of  his  courts,  to  hinder 
such  sequestrations ;  that,  when  strangers  were  ejected 
from  convents,  or  alien  priories,  as  being  enemies  to  the 
government,  the  revenues  should  not  be  bestowed  upon 
the  laity,  but  upon  English  monks  placed  in  their  room. 
These  petitions,  and  some  others  of  the  like  import, 
were  neither  rejected,  nor  immediately  granted;  the 
king's  death,  which  happened  March  20,  1413,  and  some 
other  occurrences,  retarding  the  execution.1 

There  are  some  pious  foundations,  which  belong  to 
this  reign.  Trinity  college,  at  Pomfret,  a  hospital  near 
it,  and  Trinity  chapel,  near  Rochester  bridge,  were  all 
three  founded  by  sir  Robert  Knowles,  who  also  contri 
buted  very  largely  towards  repairing  the  English  col 
lege  at  Rome ;  Fotheringay  college,  in  Northampton 
shire,  a  very  rich  foundation,  by  Edward,  duke  of  York, 
upon  which  king  Henry  V.  afterwards  bestowed  several 
parcels  of  land  belonging  to  the  alien  priories ;  a  noble 
hospital  for  the  poor,  near  that  of  St.  Cross,  not  far  from 
Winchester,  by  Henry  Beaufort,  bishop  of  Winchester, 
who  lived  in  this  and  the  ensuing  reign ;  and  an  alms- 
house  in  Wells,  near  St.  Cuthbert's  church,  by  Nicholas 
Bub  with,  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells.  It  subsisted  in 
Godwin's  days,  and  had  revenues  for  the  maintenance  of 
twenty-four  poor.2 

1  Harpsf.  619. 

2  Tanner,  in  locis ;  Godwin,  in  vit.  Beaufort  et  Bubwith,  232.     [This  reign 
should  not  be  closed,  without  some  mention  of  the  celebrated  William  of  Wick- 
ham.  He  was  born  atWickham,  in  Hampshire ;  and,  having  studied  at  Oxford, 
became  secretary  to  his  patron,  a  knight  named  Uvedale,  the  governor  of  Win 
chester  castle.     He  was  afterwards  introduced  to  Edward  III. ;  was  appointed 
surveyor-general  of  the  royal  buildings,  and,  in  that  capacity,  exhibited  his 
architectural  knowledge  and  abilities,  in  the  erection  of  Windsor  castle.     The 
favours  of  the  court  now  flowed  rapidly  upon  him.     Having  passed  through 
various  secular  offices,  he  was,  in  1367,  preferred  to  the  see  of  Winchester; 
and,  in  the  following  year,  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  lord  chancellor.     By 
what  means  he  subsequently  lost  the  friendship  of  Edward,  we  are  not  told. 
When,  by  the  influence  of  Lancaster,  the  council  was  dismissed,  in  1376, 
Wickham  shared  the  disgrace  of  his  companions,  and  was  not  only  banished 


160  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

Henry  V.  was  twenty-six  years  of  age  when  he 
3  succeeded  his  father,,  Henry  IV.  He  had  given 
himself  great  liberties  in  his  youth,  and  degraded  him 
self  far  below  that  dignity,  which  his  birth  had  honoured 
him  with.  Yet,  no  sooner  was  the  crown  put  upon  his 
head,  but  he  became  a  new  man  ;  and  whereas  others 
are  commonly  so  transported  by  honours,  as  to  give 
themselves  up  entirely  to  their  passions,  and  live  with 
out  restraint,  they  had  a  contrary  effect  upon  him,  who 
immediately  became  as  great  an  example  of  modesty 
and  regularity,  as,  before,  his  behaviour  had  given  scan 
dal  to  the  nation.  His  first  and  principal  care  was,  to 
make  choice  of  such  ministers  as  were  free  from  the 
two  devouring  vices  of  ambition  and  avarice,  whereby 
the  people  are  enslaved,  and  a  general  corruption  is 
spread  through  all  the  inferior  courts  of  a  kingdom.1 
Under  this  promising  aspect,  which  distinguished  the 
beginning  of  his  reign,  he  put  up  and  pursued  his  claim 
to  France,  by  a  vigorous  war.  This  enterprize  was 
favoured  by  the  unfortunate  circumstances  of  the  French 
nation.  Charles  VI.,  who,  at  that  time,  was  their  king, 
was  a  weak  prince  both  as  to  body  and  mind,  and  the 
nobility  under  the  utmost  distraction  by  their  divisions. 
The  issue  of  this  war  was  the  reduction  of  all  those  pro 
vinces  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  crown  of  England ; 
and  the  famous  battle,  gained  at  Agincourt,  made  way 
for  our  becoming  masters  of  the  whole  kingdom,  which 
was  soon  after  effected  by  the  assistance  of  Philip,  duke 

from  court,  but  was  also  deprived  of  the  temporalities  of  his  see.  He  was 
even  excluded,  by  name,  from  the  general  pardon,  published  by  the  king,  in 
February,  1377  (Rot.  Parl.  ii.  365) :  but,  in  the  following  June,  he  succeeded 
in  effecting  his  reconciliation ;  and,  retiring  at  once  to  his  diocese,  employed 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  planning  and  perfecting  those  magnificent  institu 
tions,  which  have  since  immortalized  his  name.  In  1379,  he  laid  the  founda 
tions  of  New-college,  Oxford  :  on  its  completion,  in  1386,  he  turned  his  atten 
tion  to  Winchester ;  and,  in  the  following  year,  commenced  the  college,  which 
still  honours  him  as  its  founder.  At  the  same  time,  he  rebuilt  the  nave  of  his 
cathedral :  he  established  an  exhibition  for  fifty  poor  scholars  at  Oxford ;  and, 
amongst  numerous  other  works  of  public  utility,  expended  a  sum  of  20,000 
marks,  in  the  repairs  of  the  episcopal  dwellings.  He  died  in  1404,  aged  eighty 
years ;  and  was  buried  in  his  own  cathedral,  where  his  tomb  may  still  be  seen. 
See  Chaundler,  apud  Ang.  Sac.  ii.  355,  356 ;  Harpsf.  550 — 555 ;  Godwin,  in 
vit.  226— 230.— 7Y1 

1  Elmham,  12—17;  Walsing.  382. 


ART.  r.]  ENGLISH.  161 

of  Burgundy,  in  revenge  for  the  murder  of  his  father. 
For  king  Henry  V.,  by  marrying  Catherine,  daughter  of 
Charles  VI.,  king  of  France,  thus  strengthened  his 
claim,  which  afterwards,  in  the  year  1420,  became  an 
established  right,  when  the  French  nobility,  having  pro 
scribed  Charles,  the  dauphin  of  France,  declared  Henry 
V.  to  be  regent,  and  heir  to  the  kingdom.  But  he  lived 
not  long  to  enjoy  this  new  acquisition,  from  which  he 
was  snatched  by  death,  the  last  of  August,  1422. * 

As  the  crown  of  England  became  glorious  by  the 
courage  of  this  great  king,  so  the  church  flourished  by 
his  zeal  for  religion ;  for  whereas  his  predecessors, 
when  they  made  a  seizure  of  alien  priories,  very  often 
bestowed  part  of  their  revenues  upon  the  laity,  this 
religious  king  either  repaired  those  houses,  and  made 
them  denizen,  or  ordered  their  revenues  to  be  trans 
ferred  upon  some  other  community.2  He  also  was 
the  founder  of  two  noble  monasteries ;  one  at  Shene, 
near  Richmond,  in  Surrey,  for  monks  of  the  Car 
thusian  order ;  the  other  called  Sion,  in  Middlesex,  for 
both  sexes,  of  the  Brigitine  order.  At  this  time,  lived 
Henry  Chicheley,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  founder 
of  several  religious  communities  ;  viz.  a  rich  college  at 
Higham-Ferrers,  in  Northamptonshire,  with  a  hospital 
near  the  same  place ;  Bernard  college,  in  Oxford,  for 
scholars  of  the  Cistercian  order,  which,  being  suppressed 
by  king  Henry  VIII. ,  was  refounded  by  Sir  Thomas 
White,  and  called  St.  John's  college ;  and  lastly,  All- 
souls  college,  in  Oxford.  Henry  Chicheley  has  a  great 
character  in  history,  and,  allowing  for  the  common  in 
firmities  of  human  nature,  is  described  to  be  a  man  al 
most  without  fault.  Godwin  says,  he  was  wise  and  dis- 

1  Elmh.  251— 266,334;  Rymer,  x.  30— 32. 

2  [Thus  the  priory  of  Andover  was  given  to  Winchester  college:  those  of 
Takely  and  Hamele,  the  former  in  Essex,  the  latter  in  Hampshire,  were  settled 
on  New-college,  Oxford  (Tanner,  125,  158,  163).     It  should  l>e  remarked, 
however,  that  other  sovereigns  had  seized  the  alien  priories,  only  for  the  term, 
or  duration  of  an  existing  war ;  but  that,  by  Henry,  those  establishments  were 
for  ever  dissolved,  and  their  revenues  confiscated  to  the  use  of  the  crown  (Rot. 
Parl.  iv.  22).     Of  this  "  dangerous  precedent"  Collier  justly  observes,  that  it 
"  led  the  way  to  larger  measures  of  the  same  kind,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII," 
Eccl.  Hist.  i.  651.- T.] 

VOL.  I.  M 


162  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

cerning  in  the  government  of  his  see,  liberal  to  the  poor, 
and  magnificent  in  those  establishments  he  made  for  the 
support  of  the  church  and  state.     One  thing  is  observed 
of  him,  that,  though  he  acted  as  the  pope's  legate,  yet 
he  was  so  cautious,  as  to  have  the  king's  approbation 
before  he  would  accept  of  that  office.1     I  must  not  omit, 
upon  this  occasion,  to  make  mention  of  the  council  of 
Constance,  and  of  the  insurrection  of  Sir  John  Oldcastle, 
called  lord  Cobham  ;  because  Henry  V.  and  archbishop 
Chicheley  were  very  instrumental  in  establishing  both 
the  peace  of  the  church  and  state.     The  council  of  Con 
stance  put  an  end  to  that  great  schism,  which  had 
reigned  near  sixty  years,  and  Martin  V.  was  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  the  true  pope.     The  Wycliffites, 
from  attacking  the  church,  began  to  rebel  against  the 
government,  under  the  conduct  of  that  enthusiast,  Sir 
John  Oldcastle,  who  was  put  to  death  for  his  seditious 
practices,  as  well  as  for  his  erroneous  doctrine.2     Wil 
liam  Lyndewood,  bishop  of  St.  David's,  ought  to  be  re 
membered  in  this  reign  ;  he  was  a  great  divine,  and 
well  skilled  in  the  canons  of  the  church,  having  been 
chancellor  to  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  fre 
quently  sent  abroad  upon  public  aifairs.     He  was  com 
piler  of  the  provincial  constitutions  of  England,  from 
the  time  of  Stephen  Langton  to  archbishop  Chicheley, 
and  died  in  the  year  1446.     To  him  we  may  join  Tho 
mas  Rudborn,  also  bishop  of  St.  David's,  who  was  an 
universal  scholar,  and  author  of  a  chronicle.3 

Henry  VI.,  at  his  father's  decease,  was  only  nine 
months  old.     He  was  committed  to  the  care  of 

1  Elm.  25  ;  Tanner,  388,  440,  441 ;  Godwin,  in  vit.  Chicheley,  126,  127. 

2  Rot.  Parl.  iv.  1 07—110;  Elm.  30—32 ;  Walsing.  400.     [See  also  Lingard, 
iii.  333 — 337,  362,  363.     In  consequence  of  the  insurrection  under  Oldcastle, 
an  additional  statute  was  passed  against  the  new  teachers.     Having  declared 
that  "  the  intention  of  the  heretics,  called  Lollards," — another  name  for  the 
followers  of  Wycliffe — "  was,  to  subvert  the  Christian  faith,  the  law  of  God,  the 
church,  and  the  realm,"  it  enacted,  that  all  magistrates  and  other  officers  of 
government  should  be  sworn  to  assist  in  the  extirpation  of  heresy ;  that  all  per 
sons  suspected  of  Lollardism  should  be  arrested,  and  delivered  to  the  ordina 
ries  ;  and  that  all  heretics,  convicted  before  the  proper  tribunals,  should  forfeit 
their  lands,  goods,  and  chattels  to  the  crown. — Rot.   Parl.   iv.  24;  Stat.  2 
Hen.  V.  cap.  7.— TV] 

3  Godwin,  in  vit.  Lindewood  et  Rudborne,  583. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  163 

Thomas,  duke  of  Exeter,  and  Henry,  bishop  of  Win 
chester.  John,  duke  of  Bedford,  had  the  government 
of  France,  and  Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester,  ruled 
over  England.  Now,  though  Henry  V.,  by  appointing 
his  brothers  to  manage  affairs,  during  his  son's  minority, 
seems  to  have  acted  according  to  the  rules  of  prudence, 
yet  the  nation  was  still  exposed  to  those  misfortunes, 
which  usually  happen  under  such  an  administration, 
where  jealousy  and  ambition  push  great  men  on,  to  ruin 
the  public  upon  private  views.  And  it  was  England's 
fate  to  have  its  ancient  glory  eclipsed,  upon  the  present 
juncture  ;  all  things  conspired,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
to  destroy  its  felicity.  The  duke  of  Gloucester  was 
impeached  for  inal-administration,  in  a  full  parliament 
assembled  at  Bury,  where  he  was  charged  with  several 
articles,  some  whereof  were  manifest  calumnies.  How 
ever,  he  sunk  under  the  weight,  and  was  not  only  dis 
graced,  but,  as  it  is  thought,  was  privately  taken  off  by 
the  contrivance  of  his  enemies  ;  yet  he  still  preserved  a 
reputation  with  the  generality  of  the  people,  and  was 
commonly  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  good  duke 
of  Gloucester.1  Then,  as  for  affairs  abroad,  a  war  was 
begun  in  France,  which  continued  thirty  years,  with 
little  interval,  and  with  ill  success ;  England  was  brought 
to  so  low  an  ebb,  that,  before  the  end  of  the  year  1453, 
she  was  deprived  of  Normandy  and  Aquitaine,  and  very 
little  left  of  her  late  acquisitions.  It  was  during  this 
war,  that  the  Maid  of  Orleans  spirited  up  the  French ; 
and,  whether  by  human  contrivance,  or  by  appointment 
of  heaven,  her  behaviour  proved  instrumental  in  per 
plexing  and  ruining  the  English  affairs  abroad.  But 
what  chiefly  contributed  towards  this  misfortune,  was 
the  fatal  contest  between  the  houses  of  Lancaster  and 
York,  about  their  title  to  the  crown,  which  involved  the 
nation  in  a  bloody  and  tedious  civil  war,  whereby  England 
was  incapacitated  for  retrieving  her  losses  in  foreign 
countries  ;  for  Richard,  duke  of  York,  having  put  up  his 

1  Grafton,  i.  629,  Edit.  1809.  [Dr.  Lingard,  however,  has  satisfactorily 
shown,  that  the  fact  of  his  having  died  a  natural  death  is  more  probable. — iii. 
450,  451,  notes.— T.~\ 

M  2 


164  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

claim,  was,  in  a  little  time,  able  to  support  it  at  the 
head  of  a  powerful  army.  Many  engagements  happened 
between  the  twro  parties,  and  a  battle,  gained  by  the 
earl  of  Warwick,  in  1460,  was  almost  decisive;  for 
there  king  Henry  VI.,  being  taken  prisoner,  was  con 
veyed  to  London,  and  Richard,  duke  of  York,  was,  in  a 
grand  assembly  of  nobility,  declared  heir  to  the  crown, 
and  to  act  as  regent,  during  the  life  of  Henry  VI.1  Mean 
time,  Margaret,  wife  to  Henry  VI.,  with  an  equal  num 
ber  of  nobility,  pursues  the  war  ;  and  fortune  favouring 
the  house  of  Lancaster,  Richard,  duke  of  York,  was  killed 
in  the  field,  and,  after  another  engagement  near  St. 
Alban's,  king  Henry  was  restored  to  his  liberty.  After 
wards,  several  of  the  nobility  and  others  were  executed 
as  rebels.  However,  the  Yorkists  appeared  again  in  the 
field,  being  headed  by  Edward,  earl  of  March,  son  of 
Richard,  duke  of  York,  who,  being  assisted  by  Richard 
Nevil,  the  mighty  earl  of  Warwick,  by  degrees  over 
came  the  Lancastrians ;  so  that  Henry  VI.  and  his 
martial  queen,  their  army  being  dispersed,  were  obliged  to 
retire  into  the  north,  and,  in  the  year  1 46 1,  Edward, 
earl  of  March,  was  proclaimed  king.2  King  Henry, 
having  formed  an  army  on  the  borders  of  Scotland, 
marcheth  forward  to  recover  his  crown  ;  but,  being 
beaten  by  the  Yorkists,  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
confined  in  the  tower  of  London.3  And  now  the 
earl  of  March,  called  Edward  IV.,  looked  upon  himself 
to  be  securely  seated  on  the  throne  ;  but  it  was  not  long 
before  the  disgusted  earl  of  Warwick  appeared  in  the 
field,  at  the  head  of  the  Lancastrians,  and  by  the  assist 
ance  of  Louis  XL,  king  of  France,  drove  king  Ed 
ward  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  Henry,  for  a  while, 
recovered  the  crown.  Edward  applied  himself  to 
Charles,  duke  of  Burgundy,  to  whom  he  had  given  his 
sister  in  marriage,  and,  by  the  assistance  of  this  power 
ful  prince,  he  was  able  once  again  to  dispute  the  case 
with  the  Lancastrians.  There  was  a  violent  struggle, 


Wyrcester,  484  ;  Grafton,  i.  665,  669.  2  Wyrcest.  486,  488, 489. 

3  Ibid,  504 ;  Fabyan,  by  Ellis,  654. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  165 

for  six  months,  till,  at  last,  the  fatal  battle  of  Barnet 
decided  the  cause,  in  favour  of  Edward  IV.  Richard 
Nevil,  the  great  earl  of  Warwick,  lost  his  life  in  the  en 
gagement  ;  prince  Edward,  the  son  of  Henry,  being 
taken  prisoner,  was  barbarously  murdered  in  cold 
blood ;  and  Henry  himself,  who  had  already  been  re 
turned  to  the  Tower,  was,  soon  after,  privately  taken  off, 
as  it  is  said,  by  Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester,  brother  to 
king  Ed  ward  IV.,  in  the  year  147 1.1  King  Henry  VI. 
reigned  thirty- eight  years  and  six  months.  He  has  an 
excellent  character  in  history,  especially  upon  account 
of  his  innocent  life,  and  the  practice  of  all  sorts  of  vir 
tues,  that  were  capable  of  recommending  him  either  in 
a  public  or  private  capacity;  strictly  just,  and  surpris 
ingly  patient  in  afflictions.  Some  authors  give  an  ac 
count  of  miracles  that  were  wrought  at  his  tomb,  and 
that  there  was  a  design  to  have  him  canonized.2 

Notwithstanding  the  dismal  state  England  was  in, 
during  the  reign  of  king  Henry  VI.,  yet,  being  a  prince 
of  a  religious  disposition,  and  not  unprovided  with  per 
sons  of  zeal  to  encourage  him,  several  monuments  of 
piety  were  erected  in  his  time,  both  by  himself  and 
others.  In  the  first  place,  he  took  care  to  have  the 
lands  of  alien  priories  restored  to  the  church,  and  that 
some  of  them  should  be  settled  upon  All-Souls  college, 
in  Oxford,  founded  by  archbishop  Chicheley.  In  the 
year  1443,  he  founded  King's  college,  in  Cambridge,  in 
honour  of  our  Blessed  Lady,  and  St.  Nicholas ;  as  also 
Eton  college,  near  Windsor,  in  honour  of  our  Lady. 
Pious  foundations  by  others,  were,  a  well  endowed  col 
lege  at  Ewelme,  in  Oxfordshire,  for  a  certain  number  of 
priests  and  poor,  by  William  de  la  Pole,  duke  of  Suffolk, 
and  Alice,  his  wife ;  Wye  college,  in  Kent,  by  John 
Kemp,  archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  Lincoln  college,  in 
Oxford,  by  Richard  Fleming,  bishop  of  Lincoln ;  Mag 
dalen  college,  in  Oxford,  by  William  of  Waynfleet, 
whose  true  name  was  Patten  (he  was  bishop  of  Win 
chester,  of  the  Lancastrian  party,  and  flourished  under 

1  Stowe,  422,  423,  424  ;  Grafton,  ii.  42,  43. 

2  Contin.  Croyland,  apud  Gale,  550. 


166  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PART  i. 

Henry  VI.,  Edward  IV.,  and  Henry  VII.,  and  died  in 
1486) ;  Theale  college,  in  Hertfordshire,  by  William 
Grey,  bishop  of  Lincoln  ;  Sunning  monastery,  by  Robert 
Nevil,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  afterwards  translated  to 
Durham  ;  and  Westberry  college,  near  Bristol,  rebuilt 
and  refounded  by  John  Carpenter,  bishop  of  Worces 
ter.1 

Edward  IV.,  being  crowned,  called  a  parliament,  in 
order  to  put  things  into  a  better  method,  which 
had  been  in  the  utmost  confusion,  during  the  civil  war. 
He  laboured  four  years  in  this  laudable  work,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  left  nothing  undone  towards  reconciling  the 
minds  of  his  subjects,  who  had  many  years  been  divided 
by  taking  parties.  He  also  endeavoured  to  strengthen 
and  secure  himself  by  alliances,  and  a  good  correspond 
ence  with  the  powers  abroad;  to  which  purpose,  he 
married  his  sister,  Margaret,  to  Charles,  son  of  Philip, 
duke  of  Burgundy.2  He  also  thought  it  convenient  tQ 
cultivate  a  friendship  with  Louis  XL,  king  of  France^ 
and  sent  over  the  earl  of  Warwick,  to  enter  upon  a 
treaty  of  marriage  with  Bona,  daughter  of  Louis,  duke 
of  Savoy,  and  sister  of  Carola,  queen  of  France.  But, 
in  the  meantime,  king  Edward,  altering  his  mind,  took 
for  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard,  earl  Rivers, 
and  widow  of  Sir  John  Grey.  This  unexpected  mar 
riage  so  exasperated  the  earl  of  Warwick,  that  he  vowed 
revenge,  and  joined  himself  to  the  Lancastrian  party, 
and  made  that  opposition  I  spoke  of,  in  the  latter  end 
of  Henry  VI.'s  reign.3  King  Edward  IV.  died  on  the 
9th  of  April,  1483,  being  forty-one  years  of  age. 

In  his  reign,  Thomas  Rotherham,  alias  Scot,  was 
archbishop  of  York ;  he  founded  a  college,  at  Rother 
ham,  where  he  was  born,  and  was  very  bountiful  in 

1  Tanner,  in  locis ;  Speed,  1058  ;  Godwin,  in  vit.  Nevil,  350. 

3  Rot.  Parl.  v.  622,  623. 

3  [For  the  particulars  of  Edward's  marriage,  see  Fabyan,  654.  The  nego 
tiation  with  Bona  of  Savoy,  though  frequently  asserted,  has  been  shown,  by 
Dr.  Lingard,  to  be  a  fiction  (Hist.  iii.  519,  note) :  of  course,  the  disappoint 
ment  of  Warwick,  consequent  on  the  rupture  of  that  supposed  treaty,  is  equally 
fabulous.  The  most  probable  causes  of  the  earl's  resentment  are  explained  by 
Dr.  Lingard,  ibid.— r.] 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  167 

putting  the  last  hand  to  Lincoln  college.1  I  must  not 
forget,  in  this  place,  to  make  mention  of  another  arch 
bishop  of  York,  who  made  a  considerable  figure  in  this 
reign,  viz.  George  Nevil,  so  remarkable  in  history  for 
the  great  entertainment  he  gave  at  his  consecration.  He 
was  brother  to  the  famous  earl  of  Warwick,  by  whom 
kings  were  raised  and  pulled  down  at  pleasure.  When 
this  earl  set  up  Henry  VI.  against  Edward  IV.  (though 
he  had  reigned  nine  years),  his  brother,  the  archbishop 
of  York,  took  part  also  with  the  Lancastrians  ;  and  it 
was  his  fortune  to  take  king  Edward  prisoner,  who, 
having  a  great  deal  of  liberty  allowed  him  by  that  noble 
prelate,  made  his  escape ;  and  afterwards,  the  Yorkists 
being  victorious,  the  archbishop  was  made  prisoner,  but 
after  some  time  released.  However,  king  Edward  hav 
ing  an  eye  upon  his  immense  riches,  by  one  means  or 
other  brought  him  under  a  prosecution  for  treason ;  so 
he  was  stript  of  his  substance,  and  kept  prisoner  in 
Calais  and  Guisnes,  from  whence  being  released,  he  was 
restored,  and  died  soon  after.  While  he  was  archbishop, 
the  see  of  York  was  deprived  of  a  great  part  of  its  an 
cient  jurisdiction,  by  pope  Sixtus  IV.,  who  made  St. 
Andrew's,  in  Scotland,  an  archiepiscopal  see,  with 
twelve  suffragans,  which  formerly  depended  upon  York. 
Some  opposition  was  made  against  this  new  regulation, 
but  it  came  to  nothing.2  Godwin,  in  his  account  of 
English  bishops,  tells  us,  that,  about  these  times,  Lyonel 
Wydevile  was  bishop  of  Salisbury,  that  he  was  the  son 
of  Richard,  earl  Rivers,  brother  to  king  Edward  IV.'s 
queen,  Elizabeth,  and,  being  consecrated  in  1482,  died 
in  1485.  He  adds,  that  a  nameless  person,  kinsman  to 
the  family,  told  him,  that  Stephen  Gardiner,  bishop  of 
Winchester,  was  son  of  bishop  Wydevile,  who,  to  con 
ceal  his  offence,  contrived  to  have  his  mistress  married 
to  one  Gardiner.3  But  it  is  probable  this  might  be  a 

1  Godwin,  in  vit.  698. 

2  [See  his  life  in  Godwin,  693 — 697.     The  escape  of  Edward,  and  the  release 
of  the  archbishop,  are  differently  related,  and  on  better  authority,  by  Dr.  Lin- 
gard,  iii.  525,  538,  notes.—  jT] 

3  P.  351. 


168  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

fiction,  to  depreciate  bishop  Gardiner's  character,  as 
well  as  to  asperse  the  whole  order ;  for  things  of  that 
kind  are  commonly  such  secrets,  that  the  age  they  hap 
pen  in  can  be  no  judge  of  them,  much  less  can  future 
ages  pronounce  upon  them  without  rashness. 

Edward  V.  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  at  the  decease 
of  his  father,  Edward  IV.,  and  had  a  brother, 
Richard.,  duke  of  York,  who  was  only  eleven  years  old. 
They  had  been  committed  to  the  care  of  the  lords 
Rivers  and  Grey  ;  butwere  seized  by  their  uncle,  Richard, 
duke  of  Gloucester,  the  late  king's  brother,  who,  though 
he  caused  his  nephew,  Edward,,  to  be  proclaimed  king, 
yet,  being  fired  with  ambition,  contrived  a  means  how 
to  disappoint  both  those  princes,  and  have  himself  de 
clared  king,  which  was,  by  pretended  proofs  of  their 
illegitimacy,  and  exposing  their  mother  as  an  adul tress. 
He  was  not  unprovided  with  fit  instruments  for  carry 
ing  on  his  design.  Preachers  were  set  on,  to  divulge  it 
in  the  pulpit ;  and  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  a  person 
of  vast  riches  and  power,  giving  into  the  project,  the 
contrivance  met  with  success.  However,  to  remove  all 
obstacles,  and  make  matters  secure,  the  two  princes,  who 
had  before  been  confined  in  the  tower,  were  privately 
JUNE  made  away,  and  their  uncle,  the  duke  of  Gloucester, 
22-  saluted  king,  with  the  title  of  Richard  III.1  Now, 
as  he  had  obtained  the  crown  by  treachery  and  murder, 
so  he  governed  after  a  very  tyrannical  manner ;  which 
behaviour,  having  exasperated  the  nation,  afforded  an 
opportunity  to  any  one  that  could  lay  claim  to  the 
crown.  Among  these,  Henry,  earl  of  Richmond,  who 
was  of  the  Lancastrian  family,  by  the  mother's  side, 
though  at  a  great  distance,  had  made  such  interest,  as 
to  be  in  hopes  of  dethroning  the  tyrant  Richard,  and 
stepping  into  his  place.  After  some  time  spent  in  form 
ing  an  army,  the  earl  of  Richmond  at  last  came  to  an 
engagement  with  his  antagonist,  part  of  whose  army 
proving  false  to  him,  he  wras  routed,  and  lost  his  life  in 
the  field,  with  singular  bravery,  on  the  22nd  of  August, 

1  More,  60— 65;  Contin.  Croyland,  568. 


ART.  i.]'  ENGLISH.  169 

1485,  and  the  earl  of  Richmond  obtained  the  crown, 
being  styled  Henry  VII.1  Though  the  reign  of  Richard 
III.  was  very  short,  yet  he  found  leisure  for  erecting 
some  pious  foundations  ;  viz.  a  college  at  Middleham,  in 
Yorkshire,  and  another  college,  near  the  Tower  of  Lon 
don,  adjoining  to  a  chapel  called  our  Lady's  of  Bark 
ing.  He  was  also  a  considerable  benefactor  to  Queen's 
college,  in  Cambridge.2 

Henry  VII,  apprehending  that  he  should  meet  with 
opposition,  and  that  several  persons  would  disturb  the 
quiet  of  his  reign,  in  favour  of  the  house  of  York  (and, 
indeed,  considering  his  remote  claim,  his  fears  were  not 
groundless),  to  strengthen  his  title,  takes  to  wife  Eliza 
beth,  daughter  of  king  Edward  IV,  by  which  contriv 
ance  the  white  and  red  rose  being  united,  the  occasion 
of  a  farther  contest  was,  in  a  great  measure,  cut  oif.     I 
will  not  trouble  the  reader  with  the  difficulties  he  strug 
gled  with,  before  he  was  able  to  settle  himself  in  the 
throne  ;  which  being  overcome,  he  applied  himself  dili 
gently  to  make  the  nation  flourish,  both  as  to  learning, 
piety,  and  all  the  requisites  of  civil  government.     As 
he  was  richly  qualified  by  nature,  so  he  omitted  no 
opportunity  of  improving  his  talents.     He  made  and 
encouraged  such  laws  as  were  useful  both  to  church  and 
state.     He  had  a  singular  respect  for  churchmen  in 
general  (but  those  were  chiefly  his  favourites,  who  dis 
tinguished  themselves  by  their  zeal  for  religion) ;  and 
was  himself  an  example  to  his  subjects,  in  all  practical 
duties.     The  difficulties  of  the  times  obliged  him  to  be 
somewhat  severe  in  the  execution  of  justice,  and  loading 
his  people  with  taxes  ;  but,  upon  a  sincere  representa 
tion,  he  discovered  himself  to  be  merciful  and  indul 
gent,  and  upon  all  occasions  a  friend  to  mankind.     Be 
fore  his  death,  he  began  to  call  his  ministers  to  an  ac 
count,  apprehending,  that  several  of  his  subjects  might 
have  been  injured  by  oppressive  methods.     Some,  that 
were  concerned  in  public  affairs,  were  ordered  to  refund 

1  Contin.  Croyland,  574,  575. 

2  Tanner,  in  locis;  Weaver,  411.      [Micldleham,  however,  he  founded  in 
1476,  during  the  reign  of  his  brother,  Edward  IV. — Dugd.  Monast.  iii.  part  2, 
p.  204.— TV] 


170  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

during  his  lifetime ;  and  the  two  principal  actors, 
Empson  and  Dudley,  being  suspected  in  his  reign,  were 
called  to  an  account,  and  punished,  in  the  following 
reign,  with  the  loss  of  their  lives.  King  Henry  VTI. 
died  on  the  22nd  of  April,  1 509,  in  the  fifty-second  year 
of  his  age,  and  twenty-fourth  of  his  reign.  He  had 
eight  children  by  Elizabeth,  his  queen,  viz.  four  sons  and 
four  daughters,  whereof  only  three  survived  him ; 
Henry  VITL,  who  succeeded  him  in  the  throne ;  Mar 
garet,  married  to  the  king  of  Scotland  ;  and  Mary,  mar 
ried  to  the  king  of  France.1 

In  this  reign,  we  meet  with  several  pious  foundations. 
The  king  himself  built  and  founded  the  noble  chapel, 
together  with  an  almshouse,  at  Westminster,  as  also  the 
hospital  at  the  Savoy,  for  a  certain  number  of  priests, 
and  a  hundred  poor  people.  He  moreover  established 
six  convents,  for  friars  of  the  Franciscan  order,  viz.  at 
Richmond,  Greenwich,  Newark,  Canterbury,  Newcastle, 
and  Southampton.  In  Henry  VII.'s  reign,  Jesus  college, 
in  Cambridge,  was  founded  by  John  Alcock,  bishop  of 
Ely  ;  it  had  formerly  been  a  nunnery,  called  St.  Rade- 
gurid's ;  again,  Brazen-nose  college,  in  Oxford,  was 
founded  by  William  Smith,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  who,  in 
like  manner,  was  founder  of  a  hospital  in  Litchfield, 
where  he  had  sometime  been  bishop,  as  also  of  a  free- 
school,  at  Farneworth,  in  Lancashire,  where  he  was 
born.2 

Having  finished  this  compendious  account  of  eccle 
siastical  affairs,  and  brought  it  down  to  the  beginning 
of  Henry  VIII.'s  reign,  my  design  is  to  pursue  the  sub 
ject  more  largely,  in  the  two  last  ages,  which  is  strictly 
the  work  I  have  undertaken.  In  the  meantime,  there 
will  be  no  occasion  of  making  any  other  reflections 
upon  this  introduction,  than  what  are  obvious  to  the 

1  Hall,  504,  505.  Edit.  1809.  [It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether  Heniy's 
character  was  as  amiable  as  it  is  here  described.     See  Lingard,  iii.  364,  et 
seq.-r.] 

2  Weaver,  445,  450,  498;  Collect.  Anglo-Minorit.  part  i.  p.  211  ;  Godwin, 
in  vit.  Alcock  et  Smith,  270,  299.      [Brazen-nose  college,  however,  was  not 
founded  until  the  following-  reign.     The  patent  is  dated  in  1511.     Tanner, 


-* 

ART.  i.]  ENGLISH.  171 

reader  ;  who  will  easily  perceive,  that,  as  there  has  been 
a  constant  correspondence  between  the  see  of  Rome 
and  the  church  of  England,  so,  according  to  the  usual 
fate  that  attends  human  affairs,  there  were  frequent 
controversies,  in  every  age,  which,  in  general,  were  con 
cerning  the  limits  of  the  two  powers,  civil  and  eccle 
siastical.  At  the  same  time,  it  may  be  observed,  that 
the  particular  heads  of  those  debates  were,  the  right  of 
patronage  or  presentation  to  ecclesiastical  dignities, 
exemptions  of  the  clergy  from  taxes  and  prosecutions  in 
courts  of  civil  judicature,  the  privileges  of  sanctuary, 
the  power  of  legatine  courts,  the  custom  of  appealing 
immediately  to  Rome,  the  exorbitancy  of  fees  demanded 
by  the  bishop  of  Rome,  upon  account  of  his  supremacy, 
the  power  of  excommunication,  and  other  church  cen 
sures,  in  cases  of  a  civil  nature.  Now  the  kings  of 
England,  with  the  bishops,  nobility,  and  others  of  the 
laity,  looking  upon  themselves  to  be  nearly  concerned 
in  this  sort  of  matters,  they  often  became  a  subject  of 
complaint  and  contention,  either  by  questioning  the 
power,  or  remonstrating  against  the  abuse.  Both  sides 
alleged  laws  and  customs,  which  being  different  in  dif 
ferent  reigns,  accordingly  as  the  two  powers  were  dis 
posed  to  compliment  each  other  by  concessions,  all  was 
well,  while  things  were  managed  by  persons  of  a  pacific 
temper ;  but,  when  either  party  happened  to  be  trans 
ported  with  passion,  or  carried  away  by  indiscreet  zeal, 
the  complaints  were  mutual,  that  both  stept  out  of  their 
boundaries.  At  length,  the  legislature  took  it  into  con 
sideration,  that  certain  restraining  laws  would  be  a 
means  of  putting  an  end  to  many  of  those  controversies, 
which  had  so  long  disturbed  the  peace  both  of  church 
and  state.  And  this  gave  birth  to  the  statutes  of  mort 
main,  provisors,  and  premunire,  against  appeals  to 
Rome,  which  were  designed  to  secure  the  prerogatives 
of  the  crown,  together  with  the  liberties  of  the  church 
of  England.  Now,  though  these  regulations  were  not 
according  to  the  humour  of  the  see  of  Rome,  as  it 
appears  by  the  petitions  to  have  those  statutes  repealed, 
yet  all  quarrels,  both  upon  these  and  all  other  accounts, 


172  GENERAL  HISTORY.  [PARTI. 

were  still  carried  on  within  the  pale  of  the  church. 
There  was  no  breach  of  communion,  no  new  liturgies, 
no  articles  of  religion  drawn  up  in  opposition  to  the  be 
lief  of  the  churches  abroad :  on  the  contrary,  England 
still  continued  her  correspondence  with  the  see  of 
Rome,  and,  in  several  points,  was  more  observant  than 
what  might  be  required  by  the  essentials  of  a  spiritual 
supremacy.  For,  besides  that  no  bishop  was  permitted 
to  exercise  his  jurisdiction  without  the  pope's  approba 
tion,  and  an  oath  of  canonical  obedience  to  the  holy 
see,1  the  customary  taxes  for  the  pall,  bulls  of  confirma 
tion,  and  dispensations,  the  laws  and  orders  for  annates, 
first-fruits,  and  Peter-pence,  were  still  kept  a-foot, 
though  under  a  more  moderate  regulation  ;  and  these 
collections  were  judged  proper  towards  supporting  the 
dignity  of  the  holy  see,  and  enabling  the  pope  to  answer 
the  great  charge  of  an  universal  inspection,  wherein 
many  agents  were  to  be  employed.  Farther,  though 
the  statutes  above-mentioned  seemed  to  bear  hard  upon 
the  pope's  usual  jurisdiction,  yet  they  were  often  set 
aside,  as  if  they  had  been  made  only  in  terror  em :  for 
we  meet  with  pious  foundations,  papal  provisions, 
legates  from  Rome,  &c.,  as  usual  before  those  statutes 
were  in  force.  Our  kings  thought  fit  to  compliment 
the  see  of  Rome  with  those  privileges,  which  custom  had 
almost  made  a  right  in  former  days ;  at  least,  several 
popes  were  pleased  to  expound  them  in  that  sense,  and 
were  for  trying  titles  before  they  would  part  with  them. 
This  was  the  posture  of  aifairs  when  king  Henry  VIII. 
came  to  the  crown,  who  went  beyond  many  of  his  pre 
decessors  in  the  respect  he  paid  to  the  holy  see.  He 
sued  to  Rome  for  a  dispensation,  upon  his  marriage 
with  queen  Catherine  ;  he  maintained  the  jus  divinum 
of  the  pope's  supremacy,  in  his  learned  book  against 
Luther,  and  accepted  of  a  bull,  whereby  he  and  all  his 
successors  obtained  the  title  of  Defenders  of  the  Faith  ;2 
he  admitted  cardinal  Wolsey  to  hold  a  legatine  court,  in 
converting  the  revenues  of  certain  religious  houses  to 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  XII.  -   2  See  Appendix,  No.  XIII. 


ART.  i.]  ENGLISH. 

the  use  of  his  colleges  ;  he  submitted  to  an  appeal  to 
Rome,  upon  the  first  motion  for  the  divorce,  and  allowed 
the  two  cardinal  legates,  Campeggio  and  Wolsey,  to 
hold  a  legatine  court  upon  that  subject ;  nay,  even  after 
he  had  assumed  the  title  of  head  of  the  church,  he  was 
so  scrupulous  about  the  pope's  supremacy,  that  Cranmer 
was  obliged,  at  his  consecration,  to  take  the  usual  oath 
of  canonical  obedience  to  the  see  of  Rome.1  Now,  what 
inducements  king  Henry  had,  and  what  methods  he 
made  use  of,  to  break  off  all  commerce  with  the  holy 
see,  and  destroy  those  pious  foundations  erected  by  his 
predecessors,  and  others,  from  the  first  foundation  of 
Christianity  in  this  island,  the  following  History  will 
give  an  account. 

1  [Nor  was  this  a  singular  instance  of  the  same  feeling.  Lee  and  Gardiner, 
when  appointed,  in  1531,  to  the  sees  of  York  and  Winchester,  were  compelled 
to  address  the  pope  for  institution ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  papal  bulls  had 
arrived,  that  Henry  invested  them  with  their  temporalities. — Rymer,  xiv.  428, 
429.— r. 


174  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 


ARTICLE    II. 


DIVORCE    OF    QUEEN    CATHERINE — ORIGIN    OF  THAT   EVENT — ANNE    BOLEYN  — 
CONSULTATION    OF   DIVINES — APPLICATION    TO   THE  POPE — THE  DECRETAL 

BULL — CAMPEGGIO    AND    WOLSEY    COMMISSIONED   TO    HEAR    THE    CAUSE 

ATTEMPTS  TO  .INFLUENCE  THE  POPE — ARRIVAL  OF  CAMPEGGIO — HENRY'S 
ADDRESS  TO  THE  NOBLES THE  LEGATINE  COURT  IS  OPENED — ITS  PRO 
CEEDINGS—THE  COMMISSION  OF  THE  LEGATES  IS  REVOKED THE  KING 

IS  SUMMONED  TO  PLEAD  HIS  CAUSE  IN   ROME BREVE  OF  INHIBITION 

HENRY'S  EXPEDIENTS — OPINIONS   OF  THE  UNIVERSITIES  —  AND  OF  THE 

REFORMERS LORDS    AND    COMMONS    ADDRESS   THE  POPE HIS   ANSWER 

— MORE     EXPEDIENTS — BENNET's    MISSION MEDIATION    OF    FRANCE 

HENRY  MARRIES  ANNE  BOLEYN RISE  AND  CONSECRATION  OF    CRANMER 

WHO  PRONOUNCES  A  DIVORCE — CLEMENT  WRITES  TO  HENRY — AND  AN 
NULS  THE  JUDGMENT  OF  CRANMER — EMBASSY  TO  THE  POPE  AT  MAR 
SEILLES — HENRY  APPEALS  TO  A  GENERAL  COUNCIL DEFINITIVE  SENTENCE 

IN  FAVOUR  OF  CATHERINE HENRY'S  PROCEEDINGS — HE  IS  EXCOMMUNI 
CATED — ABSTRACT  OF  THE  REASONING  OF  THE  TWO  PARTIES,  ON  THE  SUB 
JECT  OF  THE  DIVORCE. 

BY  a  treaty  of  marriage,  between  Arthur,  eldest  son  of 
Henry  VII.,  king  of  England,  and  Catherine,  daughter 
of  Ferdinand,  king  of  Spain,  Catherine  was  sent  over, 
and  arrived  at  Plymouth,  October  2,  1501.  They  were 
married  November  14th  following,  Arthur  being  some 
what  above  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  Catherine  about 
eighteen.  Prince  Arthur,  being  of  a  tender  constitu 
tion,  and  very  much  inclined  to  a  consumption,  died  at 
Ludlow  castle,  the  April  following,  and  was  interred  in 
the  great  church  at  Worcester,  having  not  yet  com 
pleted  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  age.  Upon  his  decease, 
it  was  agreed  between  the  two  fathers,  that  Catherine 
should  not  be  returned  back  into  Spain,  but,  by  another 
treaty,  espoused  to  prince  Henry,  second  son  of  king 
Henry  VII.  Accordingly,  they  were  contracted,  having 
first  obtained  a  dispensation  from  pope  Julius  II.,  upon 
account  of  the  canonical  impediment  in  marrying  a  bro 
ther's  wife.  The  bull  of  dispensation  bears  date  Decem 
ber  26,  1503.  It  was  granted  after  a  full  hearing  of  the 
case ;  and,  besides  mentioning  the  reasons  for  continu 
ing  the  alliance  between  the  two  kingdoms,  there  is  a 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE. 

clause  conditionally  expressing  the  consummation  of  the 
former  marriage.     When  prince  Henry  was  arrived  at  a 
sufficient  age  to  ratify  the  contract,  his  father  obliged 
him  to  declare  against  it,  the  reasons  whereof  are  not 
sufficiently  known  ;    but  it  is  supposed   king   Henry 
stood  off,  in  hopes  of  obtaining  some  better  terms  from 
the  court  of  Spain.1     Upon  this,  the  contract  was  an 
nulled,  and  so  it  remained  till  the  death  of  king  Henry 
VII.,  which  happened  April  22,  1509.     When  it  was 
moved  in  council,  whether  the  contract  of  marriage  be 
tween  the  king  and  Catherine  should  be  renewed,  seve 
ral  political   considerations  were   mentioned   for  and 
against  it ;  and,  as  it  is  said,  archbishop  Warham  offered 
something  against  the  legality  of  the  dispensation.2  How 
ever,  the  opinion  in  favour  of  the  contract  prevailed,  and 
the  parties  were  married,  with  full  consent,  June  3, 
1 509.    The  queen  had  some  miscarriages,  and  some  chil 
dren  born,  who  died  soon  after ;  only  one  daughter, 
Mary,  born  February  18,  1516,  arrived  to  a  perfect  age, 
and  lived  to  inherit  the  crown.     They  lived  together 
near  seventeen  years,  free  from  any  scruples  concerning 
the  validity  of  their  marriage.     In  the  year  1527,  it  was 
rumoured  about,  that  the  king  had  entertained  some 
thoughts  of  seeking  for  a  divorce,  and  several  were  pri 
vately  employed  to  bring  it  about.     But,  before  I  pro 
ceed  to  give  an  account  of  their  methods,  it  will  not  be 
unseasonable  to  search  after  the  origin  of  this  contro 
versy,  in  which  our  historians  are  very  much  divided. 
The  king  himself  allegeth  a  real  scruple  and  tenderness 
of  conscience,  upon  account  of  the  unlawfulness  of  his 
marriage ;  the  queen  makes  it  a  contrivance  of  cardinal 
Wolsey,  out  of  revenge  against  the  emperor.     Some 
say  it  was  first  raised  by  the  French  ambassadors,  upon 
a  treaty  of  marriage,  proposed  between  princess  Mary 
and  the  duke  of  Orleans  ;  others,  that  it  was  a  politic 

1  [This  is  proved  by  the  evidence  of  Fox,  bishop  of  Winchester,  whose  depo 
sition  was  read  at  the  trial  (Herb.  274).     The  protestation  is  in  Burnet,  i. 
Rec.  p.  10,  and  Herbert,  277.— 7Y| 

2  [This  is  incorrect.     Warham,  in  the  first  instance,  objected  to  the  marriage  : 
but,  "  when  the  bull  of  dispensation  was  granted,  he  contradicted  it  no  more." 
Warham's  evidence  on  the  trial,  apud  Herbert,  271. —  7YJ 


176  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

caution  to  have  an  heir  male,  that  the  crown  might  not 
devolve  upon  the  Scottish  line.  Again,  we  are  told, 
that  king  Henry  had  taken  a  personal  dislike  to  the 
queen.  Besides  these  conjectures,  we  are  assured  by 
several  authors,  and  those  well  qualified  to  report  such 
matters,  that  Anne  Boleyn  stood  behind  the  curtain  all 
the  while  ;  and  that  the  furious  passion  the  king  had  for 
that  lady,  was  the  master-spring,  wrhich  gave  motion  to 
all  the  rest.  But,  as  objects,  which  draw  our  affections 
either  towards  good  or  evil,  do  seldom  work  singly 
upon  the  mind,  so  we  may  reasonably  suppose,  that  all 
the  motives  above-mentioned  concurred  to  carry  on  the 
divorce  ;  and  it  will  not  be  improper  to  consider  which 
of  them  was  most  prevailing. 

In  the  first  place,  though  it  is  the  part  of  every  good 
Christian,  to  have  a  due  regard  to  a  scrupulous  and  ten 
der  conscience,  yet  mankind  do  so  frequently  impose 
upon  one  another,  by  this  method,  that  the  plea  is  not 
to  be  allowed  without  some  caution  ;  which,  in  general, 
is,  to  consider,  whether  a  man's  life  is  all  of  a  piece  ; 
for  it  often  happens,  that  there  is  so  great  an  inconsis 
tency  of  behaviour,  that  several,  who  pretend  to  a 
tender  conscience,  have  no  conscience  at  all.  As  to  the 
present  case  of  king  Henry  VIII.,  there  are,  indeed, 
some  remote  circumstances,  which  plead  in  his  favour ; 
namely,  the  opposition  that  was  made  against  a  dispen 
sation,  near  twenty  years  before,  and  again  the  same 
repeated  by  archbishop  Warham,  upon  renewing  the 
contract ;  and  that  the  French,  if  it  be  true,  some  years 
before,  objected  against  the  legitimacy  of  princess 
Mary,  as  king  Henry  informs  his  nobility  ;  and  that  the 
king  refrained  from  the  queen's  bed  seven  years,  before 
he  thought  of  the  divorce,  as  Burnet  reports,  from 
Simon  Grynseus.1  Still,  if  these  particulars  were  true, 
they  would  amount  to  no  more,  than  that  all  persons 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  reasons  for  a  dispensation ; 
but  seeing  that  both  the  king,  archbishop  Warham,  and 
others,  acquiesced  to  what  was  decreed  by  proper  judges 

1  Hist.  Reform,  i.  37. 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  177 

in  that  case,  there  could  be  no  room  for  scruples  after 
wards.  Besides,  the  opposition  that  was  made  was 
more  upon  politic  than  religious  motives.  This  is  plainly 
the  case,  when  Henry  VII.  obliged  his  son  to  declare 
against  the  contract ;  and  it  is  no  less  manifest,  that,  if 
the  French  objected  against  princess  Mary's  legitimacy, 
it  was  upon  some  politic  view.  As  for  king  Henry's 
declaration  to  Simon  Grynseus,  if  it  was  real  fact  (a 
point  I  shall  not  nowr  enquire  after),  it  is  no  proof  of  a 
scrupulous  conscience.  Is  it  credible,  that  a  person  of 
king  Henry's  temper  would  have  sat  seven  years  quiet 
under  a  distracted  mind?  That  he  refrained  seven 
years  from  the  queen's  bed  (which  was  during  the  con 
troversy,  which  lasted  about  seven  years),  this  will  be 
owned  ;  and  it  was  a  necessary  piece  of  management,  in 
one  that  pretended  to  be  scrupulous  about  the  validity 
of  his  marriage.  But,  in  case  king  Henry  had  refrained 
several  years  from  the  queen's  bed,  before  the  contest 
began,  this  can  be  no  proof  that  he  was  scrupulous 
about  his  marriage.  Those  that  have  disagreeable 
wives,  those  that  have  an  aversion  to  them,  upon  ac 
count  of  any  defect  of  body,  mind,  or  behaviour  ;  those 
that  are  viciouslyinclined.and  spend  their  time  in  follow 
ing  ladies  of  pleasure,  are  a  sufficient  proof,  that  tender 
ness  of  conscience  is  not  the  only  motive  for  deserting 
their  wives.  Now  let  king  Henry's  life  and  behaviour 
speak  the  rest,  whether  he  was  apt  to  be  scrupulous, 
either  in  matters  of  love  or  revenge.1 

In  the  next  place,  as  to  the  share  cardinal  Wolsey 
had  in  this  controversy.  The  queen,  indeed,  as  will 
hereafter  be  seen,  charged  him  with  being  the  first  pro 
moter  of  it,  and  publicly  declared,  that  he  attempted  it, 
to  revenge  himself  both  of  her  and  the  emperor,  her 
nephew,  for  that  she  had  sometimes  taken  the  liberty 
to  reproach  him  for  his  pride,  &c.,  and  that  the  emperor 

1  [The  fact  of  Henry's  having1  abstained  from  Catherine's  bed,  is  disproved  by 
Dr.  Lingard,  who  cites  the  following  passage  from  a  letter,  written  so  late  as 
October,  1 528.  "  Ne  a  les  veoir  ensemble  se  sgauroit  on  de  riens  appercevoir : 
et  jusques  a  ceste  heure,  n'ont  gue  ung  lict,  et  une  table."  Bishop  of  Bayonne, 
apud  Le  Grand,  Hi.  170.— T] 

VOL.  I.  N 


178  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

had  not  stood  by  him,  when  there  was  an  election  for 
the  papacy.  However,  the  king  always  excused  Wolsey 
from  being  the  contriver,  it  being  more  for  the  credit 
of  the  cause,  to  pitch  upon  some  other  less  obnoxious 
to  censure.  That  Wolsey  seconded  the  matter,  and 
made  use  of  all  his  interest  and  skill  in  bringing  the 
divorce  about,  is  plain  from  his  own  letters,  and  all 
other  accounts  ;  though  it  must  be  owned,  he  was  much 
cooler  in  the  matter,  when  he  found  the  king  had  no 
inclination  to  match  with  France,  but  seemed  resolved 
to  make  choice  of  Anne  Boleyn.1 

How  far  the  French  were  concerned  in  favouring 
king  Henry's  design,  it  is  generally  agreed  they  encou 
raged  him  all  they  could,  in  hopes,  by  this  means,  to 
distress  the  emperor.  But  the  writers  of  that  nation 
are  not  willing  to  own  the  French  court  to  have  been 
the  first  promoter.  "  Whether,"  says  Collier,  "  the 
starting  these  objections  were  preconcerted  between 
the  French  court  and  ours,  or  between  the  cardinal  and 
the  ambassador,  is  not  known.  It  is  by  some  conjec 
tured,  that  the  king  or  the  cardinal  put  the  French  upon 
making  this  exception  ;  for  thus  the  king  might  have  a 
colourable  pretence  to  justify  his  prosecuting  the 
divorce."2 

That  both  the  king  and  the  generality  of  the  nation 
had  a  particular  regard  to  the  succession,  upon  this  oc 
casion,  is  manifest  from  the  public  declaration  they 
made,  how  destructive  it  would  be  to  the  kingdom  to 
want  an  heir-male,  or  to  have  any  one  sit  upon  the 
throne,  whose  birth-right  might  be  contested.  This  was 
a  topic  much  made  use  of ;  but  then,  it  was  a  consi 
deration  not  to  be  regarded.  The  failure  of  an  heir- 
male  was  a  powerful  inducement  in  policy,  to  set  such 

1  Heylin,  Hist.  Reform.  259,  260. 

2  Eccl.  Hist.  ii.  22.     [He  cites  Burnet,  i.  36.     Dr.  Lingard,  in  the  recent 
edition  of  his  invaluable  history,  has  shown  that  the  story,  which  assigns  to  the 
French  ambassador  the  credit  of  having  first  suggested  a  doubt  as  to  the  validity 
of  Henry's  marriage,  is  a  fiction,  originally  got  up  between  Wolsey  and  the 
king,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  former  to  break  the  subject  to  the  prelates 
of  Canterbury  and  Rochester,  and  thus  eliciting  an  expression  of  their  opinion 
on  the  matter.— vi.  378—380.  Ed.  1838.— 71.] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE. 

a  controversy  a-foot,  provided  there  had  been  no  divine 
bar  to  obstruct  it ;  but,  as  the  queen's  party  appre 
hended  the  matter,  such  kind  of  arguments  could  have 
no  force. 

Any  dislike  the  king  could  have  to  the  queen,  was  a 
circumstance  of  much  less  consequence,  in  order  to  pro 
secute  the  cause.  And  yet,  this  was  thought  to  have 
been  of  some  weight  with  king  Henry,  in  the  manage 
ment  of  that  affair  ;  for,  notwithstanding  the  soothing 
declaration  he  made  in  her  praise,  "  he  rather  respected 
than  aifected,  rather  honoured  than  loved  her.  She 
had  got  an  ill  habit  of  miscarrying,  scarce  curable  in 
one  of  her  age,  intimated  in  one  of  the  king's  private 
papers  a  morbus  incurabilis"1  Again,  her  years  wrere 
added  to  her  temper,  which  was  naturally  grave,  and 
was  daily  become  more  and  more  insipid  to  king  Henry, 
who  was  never  easy  but  when  he  was  in  the  midst  of 
gay  and  revelling  companions.  However,  I  do  not  find 
that  he  ever  publicly  signified  any  uneasiness,  upon  ac 
count  of  her  unsuitable  qualifications  ;  for,  though  his 
coldness  to  her  \vas  no  secret  to  those  that  attended  at 
court,  it  was  under  a  very  serviceable  management ; 
and,  if  he  hated  her,  it  was  with  all  the  decency  ima 
ginable. 

But  then,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  not  in  his  power 
to  conceal  his  love  so  artfully,  as  he  did  his  aversion  ; 
for,  among  all  the  motives  he  had,  to  drive  on  the  di 
vorce,  his  affection  for  Anne  Boleyn  always  appeared 
uppermost ;  which  caused  many  to  believe,  "  that  all 
this  process  was  moved  by  the  unseen  spring  of  that  se 
cret  affection."2  His  passion  was  ungovernable  in  that 

1  Fuller,  Church  Hist.  171. 

2  Echard,  i.  659.      [To  escape  from  this  charge,  Burnet  (i.  43)  endeavours 
to  make  it  appear,  that  Anne,  who,  for  several  years,  had  been  attached  to  the 
French  court,  did  not  return  to  England  for  a  permanency,  until  1 527,  when 
the  question  of  the  divorce  had  been  already  raised  ;  and  that,  till  that  period, 
Henry,  in  all  probability,  had  never  seen  her.     The  importance  of  this  chrono 
logy  to  the  character  of  Henry's  subsequent  proceedings,  has  induced  other  his 
torians  to  adopt  it  as  unquestionable :  but  the  industry  of  Dr.  Lingard  has 
effectually  dispelled  the  illusion  ;  and  we  are  now  certain,  that,  after  her  return, 
in  1522,  as  mentioned  by  Herbert  (112  and  285),  Anne  must  have  continued  to 
reside  in  England.     See  Hist,  of  Eng.  vi.  110,111, 112,  notes.  Edit.  1838.— T.] 

N  2 


180  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

regard.  "  Certain  it  is,  that  he  suffered  himself  to  be 
so  far  transported  in  affection  towards  her,  that  he 
could  think  of  nothing  else,  but  what  might  tend  to  the 
accomplishment  of  his  desires ;  so  that  the  separation 
from  the  bed  of  Catherine,  which  was  but  coldly  followed 
upon  case  of  conscience,  is  now  more  hotly  prosecuted 
in  the  heat  of  concupiscence."1  Her  wit  and  behaviour 
had  charmed  the  king  to  the  utmost  excess,  there  being 
no  perfection  of  a  worldly  kind,  but  what  she  was  en 
tirely  mistress  of ;  as  singing,  dancing,  musical  instru 
ments,  pleasant  conversation,  &c.  By  these  attractives, 
she  managed  him  so  artfully,  in  regard  of  his  amours, 
that  she  always  appeared  shy  and  reserved,  when  her 
virtue  seemed  to  be  attacked ;  and  yet,  by  her  free  and 
coquet  carriage,  often  made  him  believe  he  was  master 
of  his  prey.  However,  upon  a  nearer  advance,  she  gave 
his  majesty  to  understand,  that  her  virtue  was  dearer 
to  her  than  her  life,  and  that  no  mortal  should  have  the 
last  favour,  unless  in  the  state  of  wedlock.2  And  thus 
the  infatuated  king,  fluctuating  between  the  thoughts  of 
a  mistress  and  a  wife,  was  so  intangled,  that,  rather  than 
be  disappointed  in  the  one,  he  was  resolved  to  precipi 
tate  himself  upon  the  other.  Now,,  as  far  as  intentions 
can  fall  under  human  cognizance,  the  violent  passion 
king  Henry  had  for  this  lady,  not  only  gave  the  first  mo 
tion  to,  but  carried  on,  the  whole  affair.  This  Mr.  Caven 
dish,  not  only  a  contemporary  writer,  but  one  of  Wolsey's 
domestics,  has  delivered  to  posterity  in  express  words. 
He  says,  "  the  long  hid  and  secret  love,  between  the 
king  and  mistress  Anne  Boleyn,  began  to  break  out  into 
every  man's  ears.  The  matter  was  then  by  the  king 
disclosed  to  my  lord  cardinal  (Wolsey),  whose  persua 
sion  to  the  contrary,  made  to  the  king  upon  his  bended 
knees,  could  not  effect :  the  king  was  so  amorously 
affectionate,  that  will  bare  place,  and  high  discretion 
banished  for  the  time."3 

1  Heylin,  174;  see  Appendix,  No.  XIV. 

2  Heylin,  258  ;  Pole,  Epist.  i.  176. 

3  Cavendish,  by  Singer,  203,  204,  2nd  Ed.     [Cardinal  Pole,  addressing 
Henry  himself  on  the  subject,  says  distinctly,  that  the  idea  of  a  divorce  was 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  181 

The  game  being  thus  started,  it  was  hotly  pur 
sued  by  various  persons,  upon  various  motives. 
The  French,  the  Spaniards,  the  Germans,  the  Italians, 
one  way  or  other,  found  themselves  concerned  in  the 
controversy,  as  well  as  the  English  ;  and  they  made 
their  attack  with  the  joint  force  of  politics,  interest,  re 
venge,  conscience,  and  passion.  All  the  year  1527  was 
spent  in  remote  dispositions  ;  and  great  pains  were 
taken,  by  king  Henry's  party,  to  instil  into  the  people 
the  reasonableness  of  his  pretensions.  "  It  appears 
the  English  bishops  were  convened  about  the  question, 
this  year,  and  that  some,  though  not  all  of  them,  had 
pronounced  the  marriage  unlawful.  I  say,  not  all  of 
them ;  for  had  the  king  been  furnished  with  so  unani 
mous  a  resolution  of  the  English  prelates,  we  may  ima 
gine  the  cardinal,  who  wrote  upon  the  king's  instruc 
tions,  would  have  made  the  most  of  this  advantage,  in 
his  letter  to  Casali."  But  it  appears,  "  that,  when  the 
bishops  met  to  debate  this  question,  the  bishop  of  Ro 
chester  refused  to  put  his  hand  and  seal  to  the  instru 
ment  signed  by  the  rest.  By  this  writing,  it  is  reported, 
all  the  other  bishops  declared  the  marriage  unlawful. 
But  Cavendish,  who  was  with  the  cardinal  (as  has  been 
observed),  and  discoursed  some  of  the  most  eminent 
prelates  upon  that  point,  says  positively,  they  came  to 
no  resolution  ;  and  tells  us,  that  the  instrument,  signed 
by  the  prelates,  was  only  to  testify  their  consent  to  de 
bate  the  question."1 

These  were  only  preliminary  debates.  The  main 
matter  was,  to  know  how  the  see  of  Rome  stood  affected, 
the  pope  being  regarded  and  applied  to,  by  all  con 
cerned,  as  the  dernier  resort  of  the  controversy :  where- 
suggested  by  Anne  Boleyn,  through  the  agency  of  certain  clergymen,  whom 
she  employed  to  propose  it  to  the  king.  "  Ilia  ipsa  sacerdotes  suos,  graves 
theologos,  quasi  pignora  promptaB  voluntatis,  misit,  qui  non  modo  tibi  licere 
affirmarent  uxorem  dimittere,  sed  graviter  etiam  peccare  dicerent,  quod  punc- 
tum  ullum  temporis  earn  retineres ;  ac  nisi  continue  repudiates,  gravissimam 
Dei  offensionem  denunciarent.  Hie  primus  totius  fabulae  exorsus  fuit." — 
Pole,  f.  Ixxvi.— r.] 

1  Collier,  ii.  24.  [Wolsey's  letter  to  Casali,  here  referred  to,  is  in  Burnet, 
i.  Rec.  No.  iii.,  and  Fiddes,  Coll.  149.  The  opinion  of  the  bishop  of  Rochester 
has  been  printed  by  Collier,  ii.  Rec.  No.  vi.,  and  Fiddes,  Coll.  148. — 71.] 


182  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

fore  proper  agents  were  dispatched,,  to  make  interest. 
King  Henry  had  able  persons,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
to  manage  the  cause.  In  Italy  there  was  sir  Gregory 
Casali,  who  had  great  power  with  the  court  of  Rome, 
well  skilled  in  affairs,  and,  though  a  foreigner,  entirely 
DEC.  in  the  king's  interest ;  and  to  his  assistance  was 
5-  sent  Dr.  Knight,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  state. 
These  received  instructions  from  cardinal  Wolsey,  who 
was  indefatigable  in  promoting  every  thing  that  was 
agreeable  to  his  prince.  On  the  other  hand,  the  queen 
was  not  backward  in  acquainting  the  emperor  with  the 
whole  design,  sending  express  messengers  to  him,  in 
order  to  take  care  of  her  interest  at  the  court  of  Rome.1 
Pope  Clement  VII.  now  sat  in  St.  Peter's  chair,  though, 
when  he  was  first  applied  to,  concerning  the  divorce,  he 
was  shut  up,  as  it  were  prisoner,  in  the  castle  of  St. 
Angelo,  where  he  was  besieged  by  the  emperor's  army. 
Wherefore,  in  the  first  instance,  the  case  was  referred 
to  the  cardinal  Sanctorum  Quatuor,  who  was  to  advise 
his  holiness  how  to  proceed.  The  pope,  being  inclined 
to  favour  king  Henry,  as  far  as  the  cause  would 
allow,  yielded  to  have  it  tried  in  England,  by  a  le- 
gatine  court,  where  cardinal  Campeggio  and  cardinal 
Wolsey,  both  of  them  subjects  to  his  majesty,  were  to 
sit  as  judges.  Now  Wolsey  had  contrived  matters  so 
with  Casali,  that  the  pope  was  persuaded  to  grant  a 
bull  in  favour  of  the  divorce,  conditionally,  if  sentence 
should  be  given  by  the  court  in  favour  of  the  king. 
This  bull  bears  date  December  17th,  1 527-  Now,  it  ap 
pears  from  the  letters  between  Wolsey  and  Casali,  upon 
the  subject  of  this  bull,  that  it  was  to  be  kept  as  a  great 
secret,  and  to  be  shown  to  none  but  the  king,  unless, 
perhaps,  some  few  persons  of  note,  employed  in  the 
cabinet  affairs,  might  be  favoured  with  a  sight  of  it.  It 
cannot  be  denied,  but  there  was  a  great  deal  of  manage 
ment,  not  to  say  finesse,  upon  this  occasion,  both  on  the 
one  part  and  the  other.  A  conditional  bull  may  seem 
to  some  to  have  rather  been  an  amusement,  than  a  real 


1  Le  Grand,  i.  58,  59;  Stute  Papers,  i.  215,  217,  275  :  Collier,  ii.  36. 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  183 

favour,  and  Wolsey,  in  his  letters  to  Casali,  plainly  in 
sinuates  as  much  ;  adding,  that  it  should  be  of  no  weight 
to  obstruct  a  legal  process.  This  the  king  was  well  ap 
prised  of,  and  therefore  he  pressed  to  have  a  bull  that 
might  be  more  decisive.  I  will  not  pretend  to  say, 
what  some  of  our  historians  affirm  without  any  grounds, 
that  Campeggio  did  not  only  bring  over  the  conditional 
bull,  but  another  that  was  absolute,  which  was  destroyed 
by  him.  It  is  probable,  endeavours  might  be  used  to 
procure  such  a  bull ;  and  Wolsey  appears  to  have  peti 
tioned  for  an  unlimited  power,  so  that  his  holiness 
should  not  be  in  a  capacity  of  revising  the  cause,  or 
annulling  the  sentence  of  the  legatine  court.  But  this 
was  a  contrivance  never  likely  to  take  effect ;  it  was 
divesting  the  pope  of  his  supremacy,  and  subjecting  a 
superior  power  to  an  inferior,  without  reserve,  or  privi 
lege  of  appeal,  a  method  destructive  to  all  subordination, 
and  forms  observed  in  courts  of  judicature.  One  of  our 
historians  tells  us  farther,  that,  when  Wolsey  sent  his 
almoner,  together  with  Stephen  Gardiner,  his  secretary, 
to  follow  this  cause,  "  they  carried  along  with  them  to 
Rome  the  draught  of  a  bull,  containing  all  the  saving 
clauses  that  could  be  invented,  that  it  might  not  fail  of 
acceptance.  One  clause  was,  to  declare  the  issue  of  the 
marriage  good,  as  being  begot  bond  fide ;  which  proba 
bly  was  inserted,  to  make  the  queen  more  easy."1 

1  Echard,  i.  660.  [There  are  some  mistakes,  in  this  part  of  Dodd's  narrative, 
which  it  is  necessary  to  notice.  1st.  The  instrument,  which  he  ridicules,  under 
the  title  of t;  a  conditional  bull,"  was,  in  fact,  a  bull  of  dispensation,  permitting 
Henry,  in  case  of  a  divorce,  to  contract  a  fresh  marriage  with  any  woman 
but  his  brother's  widow,  even  though  she  were  related  to  him  in  the  first  degree 
of  affinity.  This  bull  was  drawn  up  in  England,  and,  to  show  the  delicacy  of 
Henry's  conscience,  had  the  singular  effect  of  authorizing  a  marriage,  of  the 
very  same  nature,  which  he  was  maintaining  to  be  invalid.  It  will  be  found  in 
the  Appendix  No.  XV. 

2nd.  Dodd  confounds  the  bull  of  dispensation,  which  was  published  and 
avowed,  with  the  decretal  bull,  whose  contents  were  carefully  concealed.  When 
Knight  was  dispatched  to  Rome,  in  1527,  he  was  instructed  to  obtain  the  sig 
nature  of  the  pontiff  to  two  instruments,  one  containing  the  dispensation  just 
recited,  the  other  empowering  Wolsey,  or,  if  he  were  objected  to,  Staphilaeo, 
dean  of  the  Rota,  to  hear  and  decide  the  cause  between  Henry  and  Catherine. 
Clement  signed  both  these  documents,  the  former  as  it  stood,  the  latter  with 
some  trifling  alterations :  he  even  assented  to  a  farther  and  subsequent  request, 
for  the  appointment  of  a  legate,  to  act  in  conjunction  with  Wolsey  ;  and,  by  the 


1 84  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

Several  other  means  were  used  to  bring  the  see  of 
Rome  to  a  compliance ;  the  agents  promised,  in  their 

beginning  of  the  new  year,  the  several  bulls  were  already  on  their  road  to  Eng 
land  (Burnet,  i.  Rec.  No.  iii.  iv.  v.  vi).  But  Wolsey  was  beginning  to  feel  the 
difficulty  and  danger  of  his  situation.  On  the  one  hand,  he  might  be  driven  to 
decide  on  a  doubtful  point  of  doctrine ;  on  the  other,  the  queen  might  deny  the 
jurisdiction  of  his  court,  and  appeal  at  once  to  the  supreme  tribunal.  In  either 
case,  the  pontiff  would  revoke  the  cause  to  Rome  :  the  decision  of  the  question 
would  be  deferred  to  an  indefinite  period ;  and  the  king  would,  perhaps,  be 
ultimately  disappointed  in  his  expectations,  "  to  the  utter  and  extreme  peril  of 
all  those,  that  had  intromeddled  them  in  the  cause"  (Strype,  i.  Append.  83).  To 
o'bviate  these  inconveniences,  Fox  and  Gardiner,  both  advocates  of  the  divorce, 
were  ordered  to  proceed  instantly  to  Rome,  and  to  obtain,  either  by  threats  or 
entreaties,  the  signature  of  Clement  to  two  instruments,  with  which  they  were 
provided.  The  first  was  a  dispensation,  not  dissimilar,  in  purpose,  from  that 
already  granted  to  Knight:  the  second  was  called  a  decretal  commission,  deciding 
the  point  of  doctrine,  pronouncing  authoritatively  against  the  legality  of  any 
dispensation  for  a  marriage  with  the  widow  of  a  brother,  and,  whilst  it  left  the 
question  of  fact  to  the  judgment  of  the  legatine  court,  engaging,  on  the  part  of 
the  pope,  never  to  admit  an  appeal,  or  revoke  the  cause  to  his  own  tribunal. 
To  the  dispensation  Clement  willingly  attached  his  name :  to  the  decretal  com 
mission  he  resolutely  refused  to  lend  the  sanction  of  his  authority.  It  was  in 
vain  that  the  envoys  urged  him  with  every  topic  of  persuasion.  It  was  in  vain 
that  they  reminded  him  of  his  obligations  to  the  English  crown,  that  they 
threatened  him  with  the  loss  of  Henry's  friendship,  that  they  promised  to  con 
ceal  the  existence  of  the  document  from  all  but  the  immediate  advisers  of  their 
sovereign.  He  replied,  that  he  would  never  prejudice  the  interests  of  an  absent 
party,  and  that  what  he  could  not  conscientiously  grant  in  public,  he  would 
never  accede  to  in  private.  At  length,  instead  of  the  decretal  bull,  a  general 
commission  was  drawn  up  and  signed.  Wolsey  was  empowered  to  call  to  his 
assistance  any  one  of  the  English  bishops  ;  to  enquire  summarily  into  the  validity 
of  the  dispensation  formerly  granted  to  Henry  and  Catherine;  and  "  to  pronounce, 
in  defiance  of  exception  or  appeal,  the  dispensation  to  have  been  valid  or  invalid, 
the  marriage  to  have  been  null  or  otherwise,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
evidence,  and  the  conviction  of  his  own  conscience"  (Strype,  i.  App.  48 — 72. 
82.  The  commission  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XVI).  When  Wolsey 
first  read  this  document,  he  declared  that  he  was  satisfied :  but,  in  a  few  days, 
his  doubts  returned :  he  saw  that  his  difficulties  were  rather  multiplied  than 
diminished,  by  the  authority  now  entrusted  to  him  ;  and  he  resolved  to  make  at 
least  another  effort,  to  procure  the  commission  which  had  been  refused  (Strype,  i. 
App.  7H,  79).  With  this  view,  he  dispatched  fresh  instructions  to  the  agents  at 
Rome.  He  wrote  to  Gregory  Casali ;  he  addressed  a  suppliant  letter  to  the 
pontiff;  he  implored  the  former  to  solicit,  the  latter  to  grant,  the  only  favour 
that  could  preserve  him  from  destruction ;  and  he  promised,  "  on  the  salvation 
ot  his  soul,"  so  faithfully  to  conceal  the  existence  of  the  bull,  that  neither  censure 
nor  suspicion  should  possibly  attach  to  the  conduct  of  the  pontiff  (See  Appendix 
No.  XVII).  Clement  was  unable  to  resist  the  importunity  with  which  he 
was  now  assailed.  After  an  ineffectual  struggle,  he  first  gave  a  written 
promise  never  to  revoke  the  cause,  or  reverse  the  decision  of  the  legates,  and 
then  signed  the  decretal  commission,  as  it  had  been  originally  forwarded  from 
England.  But  he  was  careful  not  to  entrust  it  to  the  doubtful  fidelity  of 
Wolsey.  That  minister,  by  his  anxiety  to  obtain  the  instrument,  had  already 
betrayed  his  willingness  to  use  it,  for  the  furtherance  of  his  own  ends ;  and,  to 
prevent  its  publication,  therefore,  it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Campeggio, 
who  was  appointed  to  proceed  to  England  as  legate,  to  be  by  him  read  to  Henry 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  185 

master's  name,  that  he  was  ready  to  enter  into  any 
alliance,  for  the  support  of  his  holiness's  pretensions 
against  the  emperor,  or  any  other  that  should  attack 
the  rights  of  the  church.  "  And  because  money  was 
thought  very  welcome  to  persons  under  duresse,  10,000 
ducats  were  sent  to  Venice,  to  be  distributed  as  sir 
Gregory  thought  fit.  He  was  likewise  commissioned  to 
make  farther  promises,  if  he  thought  it  necessary."1 
Again,  these  agents  were  put  upon  trying  his  holiness 
after  another  way,  which,  indeed,  was  somewhat  ex 
traordinary.  They  were  to  enquire  of  him,  whether 
the  evangelical  law,  in  some  cases,  would  not  admit  of 
two  wives,  as  there  were  many  instances  of  such  an 
indulgence  in  the  old  law  ?  Again,  whether,  in  case  a 
dispensation  was  granted  for  the  king  and  queen  both 
to  make  religious  vows,  the  king  might  not  afterwards 
be  favoured  with  a  second  dispensation  from  his  reli 
gious  vow,  and  permitted  to  marry,  the  queen  still 
remaining  under  the  obligation  of  her  religious  vow  ? 
So  ingenious  is  mankind  in  pleading  in  behalf  of  liberty.1 
Meantime,  cardinal  Campeggio  was  preparing  for  his 
journey  towards  England,  where  king  Henry  waited 
with  impatience,  to  have  the  cause  heard  and  deter 
mined.  He  arrived  in  London,  October  9,  1528.  And 
not  long  after,  viz.,  November  8,  his  majesty,  having 
assembled  a  great  number  of  his  nobility,  and  others, 

and  the  Cardinal,  and  then  forthwith  committed  to  the  flames  (Burnet,  i. 
Rec.  p.  39).  Of  this  instrument  no  copy  is  now  extant:  but  of  its  existence 
and  purport,  though  apparently  questioned  by  Dodd,  and  certainly  denied  by 
Le  Grand  (i.  91—93),  there  can  be  no  doubt.  By  Henry  himself  we  are  in 
formed  that  it  was  "  delivered  to  the  legate  :"  we  are  assured  that  it  pronounced 
the  marriage  between  himself  and  Catherine  invalid,  if  that  between  Catherine 
and  his  brother  could,  only  by  "  presumption,"  be  proved  to  have  been  consum 
mated;  and  we  are  farther  told,  that,  by  "  commandment  of  the  pope,  after  and 
because  he  would  not  have  the  effect  thereof  to  ensue,  it  was,  after  the  sight 
thereof,  imbesiled  by  the  foresaid  cardinalls"  (Burnet,  iii.  Rec.  p.  60).  The 
engagement  not  to  revoke  the  cause,  or  reverse  the  judgment  of  the  legates, 
which  Dodd  characterizes,  as  "  a  contrivance  never  likely  to  take  effect,"  is  in 
Burnet,  iii.  Rec.  p.  18,  and  Herbert,  249.— 7VJ 

1  Collier,  ii.  2H.      [See  also  Burnet,  i.  Rec.  p.  19,  22,  28,  and  Strype,  i. 
App.  51.— T.] 

2  Harpsfield,  apud  Collier,  ii.  29,  30.  [It  was  not,  however,  of  the  pope,  but 
of  the  principal  canonists  in  Rome,  that  these  enquiries  were  to  be  made.  Ibid. 
See  also  Herbert,  252,  and  Le  Grand,!.  108,  109.— T.] 


186  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

at  his  palace  at  Bridewell,,  thought  it  proper  to  make  a 
public  declaration  of  his  mind,  concerning  the  grand 
dispute  between  him  and  his  queen,  which,  before,  had 
only  been  muttered  in  corners,  and  the  subject  of  private 
conversation.  In  a  set  speech,  he  endeavours  to  con 
vince  them  of  the  sincerity  of  his  intentions,  and  justice 
of  his  pretensions.  "  Our  trusty  and  well-beloved  sub 
jects,"  says  he,  "  both  you  of  the  nobility,  and  you  of 
the  meaner  sort,  it  is  not  unknown  to  you,  how  that 
we,  both  by  God's  provision,  and  true  and  lawful  in 
heritance,  have  reigned  over  this  realm  of  England  almost 
the  term  of  twenty  years,  during  which  time  we  have 
so  ordered  us,  thanked  be  God,  that  no  outward  enemy 
hath  oppressed  you,  nor  taken  any  thing  from  us  ;  nor 
we  have  invaded  no  realm,  but  we  have  had  victory 
and  honour :  so  that  we  think  that  you,  nor  none  of 
your  predecessors,  ever  lived  more  quietly,  more  wealthy, 
nor  in  more  estimation,  under  any  of  our  noble  progeni 
tors.  But  when  we  remember  our  mortality,  and  that 
we  must  die,  then  we  think  that  all  our  doings,  in  our 
lifetime,  are  clearly  defaced,  and  worthy  of  no  memory, 
if  we  leave  you  in  trouble  at  the  time  of  our  death.  For 
if  our  true  heir  be  not  known  at  the  time  of  our  death, 
see  what  mischief  and  trouble  shall  succeed  to  you  and 
your  children  :  the  experience  thereof  some  of  you 
have  seen,  after  the  death  of  our  noble  grandfather,  king 
Edward  IV.,  and  some  have  heard  what  mischief  and 
manslaughter  continued  in  this  realm,  between  the  houses 
of  York  and  Lancaster,  by  the  which  dissension  this 
realm  was  like  to  have  been  clearly  destroyed.  And 
though  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  send  us  a  fair 
daughter,  of  a  noblewoman  and  me  begotten,  to  our 
great  comfort  and  joy,  yet,  it  hath  been,  told  us  by 
divers  great  clerks,  that  neither  she  is  our  lawful  daugh 
ter,  nor  her  mother  our  lawful  wife,  but  that  we  live 
together  abominably  and  detestably  in  open  adultery ; 
insomuch,  that,  when  our  ambassage  was  last  in  France, 
and  motion  was  made,  that  the  duke  of  Orleans  should 
marry  our  said  daughter,  one  of  the  chief  counsellors 
to  the  French  king  said,  it  were  well  done  to  know, 


ART.  ij.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  187 

whether  she  be  the  king  of  England's  lawful  daughter, 
or  not :  for  well  known  it  is,  that  he  begat  her  on  his 
brother's  wife,  which  is  directly  against  God's  law  and 
his  precept.  Think  you,  my  lords,  that  these  words 
touch  not  my  body  and  soul?  think  you  that  these  doings 
do  not  daily  and  hourly  trouble  my  conscience,  and  vex 
my  spirits  ?  Yes,  we  doubt  not  but,  and  if  it  were 
your  own  cause,  every  man  would  seek  remedy,  when 
the  peril  of  your  soul,  and  the  loss  of  your  inheritance,, 
is  openly  laid  to  you.  For  this  only  cause,  I  protest, 
before  God,  and  in  the  word  of  a  prince,  I  have  asked 
counsel  of  the  greatest  clerks  in  Christendom  ;  and  for 
this  cause  I  have  sent  for  this  legate,  as  a  man  indif 
ferent,  only  to  know  the  truth,  and  to  settle  my  con 
science,  and  for  none  other  cause,  as  God  can  judge. 
And  as  touching  the  queen,  if  it  be  adjudged  by  the 
law  of  God,  that  she  is  my  lawful  wife,  there  was  never 
thing  more  pleasant  nor  more  acceptable  to  me  in  my 
life,  both  for  the  discharge  and  clearing  of  my  conscience, 
as  also  for  the  good  qualities  and  conditions,  the  which 
I  know  to  be  in  her.  For  I  assure  you  all,  that,  beside 
her  noble  parentage,  of  the  which  she  is  descended,  as 
you  all  know,  she  is  a  woman  of  most  gentleness,  of 
most  humility,  and  buxomness,  yea,  and  of  all  good 
qualities  appertaining  to  nobility ;  she  is  without  com 
parison,  as  I,  these  twenty  years  almost,  have  had  the 
true  experiment :  so  that,  if  I  were  to  marry  again,  if 
the  marriage  might  be  good,  I  would  surely  choose  her 
above  all  other  women.  But  if  it  be  determined  by 
judgment,  that  our  marriage  was  against  God's  law,  and 
clearly  void,  then  I  shall  not  only  sorrow  the  depart 
ing  from  so  good  a  lady,  and  loving  companion,  but 
much  more  lament  and  bewail  my  unfortunate  chance, 
that  I  have  so  long  lived  in  adultery,  to  God's  great  dis 
pleasure,  and  have  no  true  heir  of  my  body  to  inherit 
this  realm.  These  be  the  sores  that  vex  my  mind;  these 
be  the  pangs  that  trouble  my  conscience;  and  for  these 
griefs  I  seek  a  remedy.  Therefore,  I  require  of  you  all, 
as  our  trust  and  confidence  is  in  you,  to  declare  to  our 
subjects  our  mind  and  intent,  according  to  our  true 


188  HENRY  VIII.  [?ART  i. 

meaning,  and  desire  them  to  pray  with  us,  that  the  very 
truth  may  be  known  for  the  discharge  of  our  conscience, 
and  saving  of  our  soul ;  and  for  the  declaration  hereof, 
I  have  assembled  you  together,  and  now  you  may  de 
part."1 

Some  months  passed  over  before  matters  could  be  in 
a  readiness  for  this  great  trial.  Proper  persons  were  to 
be  pitched  upon  for  managers,  and  citations  issued  out 
for  witnesses  :  but  what  chiefly  occasioned  a  delay,  wrere 
the  exceptions  made  by  the  queen,  both  against  the 
place  appointed  for  the  trial,  and  the  persons  that  were 
to  sit  as  judges.2  She  takes  the  liberty  to  tell  the  legates, 
that  England  was  not  a  proper  place,  where  she  might, 
in  a  manner,  be  looked  upon  as  a  stranger,  and  remote 
from  all  her  friends  ;  and  that  her  judges  stood  not  so 
clear  from  all  suspicions  of  partiality,  but  there  were 
sufficient  grounds  to  except  against  them  :  for,  though 
they  were  nominated  by  the  pope,  yet  they  were  both 
subjects  to  the  king  of  England,  and  tied  to  him  by  sin 
gular  obligations  ;  Campeggio  being  complimented  with 
the  see  of  Salisbury,  and  Wolsey,  as  all  the  world  knew, 
being  entirely  a  creature  of  the  court.  To  which  she 
added,  that  the  latter  was  a  professed  enemy  to  her  and 
all  her  family,  and  was  hugely  suspected  to  be  the  first 
promoter  of  the  controversy,  and  author  of  all  her 
troubles.8  Notwithstanding  these  plausible  arguments, 

1  Hall,  754,  Ed.  1809. 

2  [This  is  incorrect.     The  real  causes  of  the  delay  rested  with  Henry,  not 
with  the  queen.     First,  the  agents  wrere  ordered  to  apply  for  leave,  to  have  the 
decretal    commission  shown  to  the  privy-council  (Burnet,  i.   Rec.   No.  xvi. 
xvii.) :    then  an  embassy   was   sent,    to  make  the    extraordinary    enquiries, 
already  mentioned,  on  the  subject  of  two  wives;  and  finally,  other  letters  were 
written,  and  other  agents  dispatched,  to  obtain  for  the  legates  a  more  ample 
commission,  whereon  to  found  their  proceedings.     See  the  Records  in  Burnet, 
i.  No.  xxii.  xxiii. — 71.] 

3  [The  accounts  relative  to  this  speech  are  strangely  at  variance.  Hall  (755) 
places  it  before,  Cavendish  (228),  Stowe  (544),  and'others,  after,  the  opening  of 
the  legatine  court :  while,  as  regards  its  substance,  no  two  versions  are  alike. 
From  a  dispatch  in  Burnet,  however  (i.  Rec.  No.  xvii.  p.  41),  we  know  that 
it  must  have  formed  the  queen's  answer  to  an  attempt,  on  the  part  of  the  legates, 
to  persuade  her  to  submit  to  a  divorce ;  that  it  was,  therefore,  made  almost  im 
mediately  after  the  arrival  of  Campeggio ;  and  that,  as  it  is  expressly  said,  by 
the  legate  himself,  "  modeste  earn  locutam  fuisse,"   the  violent  language,  with 
which  Hall  represents  her  to  have  assailed  Wolsey,  could  hardly  have  belonged 
to  it.     See  also  the  bishop  of  Bayonne,  apud  Le  Grand,  iii.  190.— T.] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  189 

which  to  some  appeared  sufficient  to  have  induced  the 
see  of  Rome  to  have  appointed  another  place,  and  other 
judges,  yet  the  pope  being  willing  to  show  what  favour 
he  could  to  king  Henry,  the  cause  went  on,  in  the  man  - 
iier  it  had  been  proposed ;  and,  accordingly,  the  first 
session  began  at  Blackfriars,  May  31,  1529. 

The  chief  managers,  on  the  king's  part,  were,  Dr. 
Sampson,  Dr.  Hall,  Dr.  Petre,  and  Dr.  Tregonnel. 
Those  that  argued  for  the  queen  were,  John  Fisher, 
bishop  of  Rochester,  Henry  Standish, bishop  of  St.  Asaph, 
and  the  learned  civilian,  Dr.  Ridley.     The  king  and 
queen  appearing  in  court  according  to  summons,  his 
majesty  repeated  the  substance  of  what  he  had  formerly 
declared  before  an  assembly  of  his  nobility.     The  queen 
then  rising  up,  and  crossing  the  court  to  the  king,  cast 
herself  at  his  feet,  and  thus  addressed  him  :  "  Sir,  I  de 
sire  you  to  take  some  pity  upon  me,  and  do  me  justice 
and  right.     I  am  a  poor  woman,  a  stranger  born  out  of 
your  dominions,  having  here  no  indifferent  counsel,  and 
less  assurance  of  friendship.     Alas  !  wherein  have  I  of 
fended,  or  what  cause  of  displeasure  have  I  given,  that 
you  intend  thus  to  put  me  away  ?     I  take  God  to  my 
judge,  I  have  been  to  you  a  true  and  humble  wife,  ever 
conformable  to  your  will  and  pleasure  ;  never  gainsaying 
any  thing  wherein  you  took  delight,  never  grudging,  in 
word  or  countenance,  or  showing  a  visage  or  spark  of 
discontent.     I  have  loved  all  those  whom  you  loved, 
whether  they  were  my  friends,  or  my  enemies.     I  have 
borne  you  children,  and  been  your  wife,  now  these  twenty 
years.     Of  my  virginity  and  marriage-bed  I  make  God 
and  your  own  conscience  the  judge  ;  and  if  it  otherwise 
be  proved,  I  am  content  to  be  put  from  you  with  shame. 
The  king,  your  father,  in  his  time,  for  wisdom   was 
known  to  be  a  second  Solomon  ;    and  Ferdinand  of 
Spain,  my  father,  accounted  the  wisest   among  their 
kings  : — could  they,  in  this  match,  be  so  far  overseen, 
or  are  there  now  wiser  and  more  learned  men,  than  at 
that  time  were  ?     Surely,  it  seemeth  wonderful  to  me, 
that  my  marriage,  after  twenty  years,  should  be  thus 
called  in  question,  with  new  invention  against  me,  who 


190  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

never  intended  but  honesty.  Alas !  sir,  I  see  I  am 
wronged,  having  no  counsel  to  speak  for  me,  but  such 
as  are  your  subjects,  and  cannot  be  indifferent  upon  my 
part.  Therefore,  I  most  humbly  beseech  you,  even  in 
charity,  to  stay  this  course,  until  I  may  have  advice  and 
counsel  from  Spain  : — if  not,  your  grace's  pleasure  be 
done."  She  then  rose,  and,  making  a  low  obeisance, 
withdrew.  As  she  left  the  court,  her  attendant  informed 
her  that  she  was  summoned  to  return.  "  On,  on,"  said 
she,  "  it  maketh  no  matter  :  this  is  no  indifferent  court 
for  me  ;  therefore,  go  forward." 

The  king,  perceiving  that  she  was  gone,  and  fearful 
of  the  effect  which  her  words  had  produced,  imme 
diately  addressed  the  court.  "Forasmuch,"  said  he, 
"  as  the  queen  is  gone,  I  will,  in  her  absence,  declare 
unto  you  all,  that  she  hath  been  to  me  as  true,  as  obe 
dient,  and  as  comfortable  a  wife,  as  I  would  wish  or 
desire.  She  hath  all  the  virtuous  qualities,  that  ought 
to  be  in  a  woman  of  her  dignity,  or  in  any  other  of  a 
baser  estate.  She  is  also  surely  a  noblewoman  born ; 
her  conditions  will  well  declare  the  same." — "  Sir,"  in 
terrupted  Wolsey,  "  I  most  humbly  beseech  your  high 
ness  to  declare  before  all  this  audience,  whether  I  have 
been  the  chief  and  first  mover  of  this  matter  unto  your 
majesty,  or  no  :  for  I  am  greatly  suspected  herein." — 
"  My  lord  cardinal,"  said  the  king,  "  I  can  well  excuse 
you  in  this  matter.  Marry,  you  have  been  rather  against 
me  in  attempting,  or  setting  forth  thereof.  And,  to  put 
you  all  out  of  doubt,  I  will  declare  unto  you  the  special 
cause  that  moved  me  hereunto  : — it  was,  a  certain  scru 
pulosity  that  pricked  my  conscience,  upon  divers  words 
that  were  spoken,  at  a  certain  time,  by  the  bishop  of 
Bayonne,  the  French  king's  ambassador,  who  had  been 
here  long,  upon  the  debating  for  a  marriage  to  be  con 
cluded,  between  the  princess,  our  daughter,  Mary,  and 
the  duke  of  Orleans,  the  French  king's  second  son. 
And,  upon  the  resolution  and  determination  thereof,  he 
desired  respite,  to  advertise  the  king,  his  master,  thereof, 
whether  our  daughter,  Mary,  should  be  legitimate,  in 
respect  of  the  marriage,  which  was  sometime  between 


ART.  i.}  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  191 

the  queen  here,  and  my  brother,  the  late  prince  Arthur. 
These  words  were  so  conceived  within  my  scrupulous 
conscience,  that  it  bred  a  doubt  within  my  breast,  which 
doubt  pricked,  vexed,  and  troubled  so  my  mind,  and  so 
disquieted  me,  that  I  was  in  great  doubt  of  God's  indig 
nation  ;  much  the  rather,  for  that  he  hath  not  sent  me 
any  issue  male :  for  all  such  issue  male,  as  I  have  received 
of  the  queen,  died  incontinent  after  they  were  born  :  so 
that  I  doubt  the  punishment  of  God  in  that  behalf.  Thus 
being  troubled  in  waves  of  a  scrupulous  conscience,  and 
partly  in  despair  of  any  issue  male  by  her,  it  drove  me, 
at  last,  to  consider  the  estate  of  this  realm,  and  the  dan 
ger  it  stood  in,  for  lack  of  issue  male  to  succeed  me 
in  this  imperial  dignity.  I  thought  it  good,  therefore, 
in  relief  of  the  weighty  burthen  of  scrupulous  conscience, 
and  the  quiet  estate  of  this  noble  realm,  to  attempt  the 
law  therein,  and  whether  I  might  take  another  wife,  in 
case  that  my  first  copulation  with  this  gentlewoman 
were  not  lawTful ;  which  I  intend  not  for  any  carnal  con 
cupiscence,  nor  for  any  displeasure  or  mislike  of  the 
queen's  person  or  age,  with  whom  I  could  be  as  well 
content  to  continue  during  my  life,  if  our  marriage  may 
stand  with  God's  laws,  as  with  any  woman  alive  -,1  in 
which  point  consisteth  all  this  doubt,  that  we  go  now 
about  to  try,  by  the  learned  wisdom  and  judgment  of 
you,  our  prelates  and  pastors  of  this  realm,  here  assem 
bled  for  that  purpose ;  to  whose  conscience  and  judg 
ment  I  have  committed  the  charge,  according  to  the 
which  (God  willing)  we  will  be  right  well  contented  to 
submit  our  self,  to  obey  the  same,  for  our  part.  Wherein, 
after  I  once  perceived  my  conscience  wounded  with  the 
doubtful  case  herein,  I  moved  first  this  matter  in  con 
fession  to  you,  my  lord  of  Lincoln,  my  ghostly  father. 
And,  forasmuch  as  then  yourself  were  in  some  doubt  to 

1  [And  yet  he  could  instruct  Wolsey  to  say,  in  his  dispatches  to  Rome,  "  in 
hac  re  insunt  nonnulla,  quas  ob  causas,  morbosque  nonnullos,  quibus  absque 

remedio  regina  laborat regia  majestas  nee  potest,nec  vult,ullo  unquam  post- 

hac  tempore,  ea  uti,  vel  ut  uxorem  admittere,  quodcumque  advenerit"  Burnet,  i. 


192  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

give  me  counsel,  moved  me  to  ask  farther  counsel  of  all 
you,  my  lords  ;  wherein  I  moved  you  first,  my  lord  of 
Canterbury,  axing  your  license  (forasmuch  as  you  were 
our  metropolitan)  to  put  this  matter  in  question  ;  and  so 
I  did  of  all  you,  my  lords,  to  the  which  ye  have  all 
granted,  by  writing,  under  all  your  seals,  the  which  I 
have  here  to  be  showed." — "  That  is  truth,  if  it  please 
your  highness,"  quoth  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury ; 
"  I  doubt  not  but  all  my  brethren  here  present  will  affirm 
the  same." — "  No,  sir,  not  I,"  quoth  the  bishop  of  Ro 
chester,  "ye  have  not  my  consent  thereto." — "No?  ha!" 
quoth  the  king,  "  look  here  upon  this ;  is  not  this  your 
hand  and  seal  ?"  and  showed  him  the  instrument  with 
seals.  "  No,  forsooth,  sire,"  quoth  the  bishop  of  Ro 
chester,  "  it  is  not  my  hand  nor  seal."  To  that  quoth 
the  king  to  my  lord  of  Canterbury,  "  Sir,  how  say  ye  ; 
is  it  not  his  hand  and  seal  ?" — "  Yes,  sir,"  quoth  my  lord 
of  Canterbury. — "That  is  not  so,"  quoth  the  bishop  of 
Rochester,  "  for,  indeed,  you  were  in  hand  with  me,  to 
have  both  my  hand  and  seal,  as  other  of  my  lords  had 
already  done  :  but  then  I  said  to  you,  that  I  would  never 
consent  to  no  such  act,  for  it  were  much  against  my 
conscience  ;  nor  my  hand  and  seal  should  never  be  seen 
at  any  such  instrument,  God  willing ;  with  much  more 
matter,  touching  the  same  communication  between  us." 
— "You  say  truth,"  quoth  the  bishop  of  Canterbury, 
"  such  Words  ye  said  unto  me  ;  but,  at  the  last,  ye  were 
fully  persuaded  that  I  should  for  you  subscribe  your 
name,  and  put  to  a  seal  myself,  and  ye  would  allow 
the  same." — "  All  which  words  and  matter,"  quoth  the 
bishop  of  Rochester,  "  under  your  correction,  my  lord, 
and  supportation  of  this  noble  audience,  there  is  nothing 
more  untrue." — "Well,  well,"  quoth  the  king,  "  it  shall 
make  no  matter  ;  we  will  not  stand  with  you  in  argu 
ment  herein,  for  you  are  but  one  man*"  And  with 
that,  the  court  was  adjourned  to  another  day ;  and 
the  queen  at  once  appealed  from  the  legatine  court 
to  the  see  of  Rome  immediately ;  in  which,  we  may 
reasonably  suppose,  she  had  her  instructions  from  the 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  193 

emperor,  and  other  friends  abroad.1  However,  this  did 
not  put  an  end  to  the  court ;  the  cause  went  on  ;  the 
queen,  refusing  to  appear,  was  pronounced  contuma 
cious,  and  the  managers  prepared  themselves  to  discuss 
the  matter  of  fact,  concerning  the  legality  of  pope  Ju 
lius  II. 's  bull  of  dispensation.  As  for  the  question  of 
right,  it  was  an  enquiry  belonging  to  divines,  and,  on 
the  present  occasion,  not  entered  upon  by  the  civilians. 
What  the  king's  agents  alleged  was,  to  prove  that  the 
dispensation  was  either  surreptitious,  or  void  in  law, 
upon  account  of  some  intrinsic  defect.  First,  they  men 
tion  the  king's  declaring  against  the  contract,  and  break 
ing  it  off,  when  he  arrived  at  an  age  required  for  those 
purposes,  which,  they  suppose,  must  have  been  occa 
sioned  by,  at  least,  some  legal  defect  in  the  dispensa 
tion.  Secondly,  Henry  and  Catherine  are  said,  by  the 
words  of  the  dispensation,  to  have  sued  for  it,  in  order 
to  preserve  peace  and  unity  between  the  two  kingdoms : 
whereas,  in  the  first  place,  there  was  no  danger  of  the 
peace  being  violated,  and,  in  the  next,  Henry  was  then 
not  above  twelve  years  of  age,  and  children  cannot  be 
thought  to  be  masters  of  any  such  projects.  Thirdly, 
that  the  circumstance  of  consummation  not  being  ex 
pressed  in  the  bull,  such  an  omission  did  render  the 
dispensation  invalid.  Fourthly,  there  were  very  strong 
presumptions  that  the  marriage  between  Arthur  and 
Catherine  was  consummated.  To  the  first  allegation 
the  queen's  managers  replied,  that  the  king's  protest 
ing  against  the  contract,  when  he  came  to  years  of 
maturity,  drew  no  such  consequences  after  it ;  all  that 
can  be  inferred  is,  that  the  court  of  England  thought  it 
not  convenient  to  stand  to  it,  at  that  time  :  on  the  other 
hand,  the  contract  being  renewed,  and  a  marriage  suc 
ceeding,  it  is  a  manifest  proof  that  all  scruples  were 
overcome  (if  there  were  any),  both  as  to  the  legality 
and  validity  of  the  dispensation.  To  the  second  it  was 

1  Cavendish,  by  Singer,  213—223.  [The  king's  speech  is  abridged  by  Speed, 
1007,  1 008.     Le  Grand  has  strangely  mistaken  the  "  licence  to  put  this  matte  r 
in  question,"  which  Henry  says  he  had  obtained  from  the  bishops,  for  a  decla 
ration  against  the  validity  of  his  marriage  with  Catherine,  i.  135 — 138. — T.~\ 
VOL.  T.  O 


J94  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

answered,  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  persons,  during 
their  minority,  to  answer  to  such  matters  personally, 
but  only  by  their  proxies,  who,  in  all  such  cases,  stand 
as  guarantees,  till  the  contracting  parties  become  ca 
pable,  either  to  ratify  or  annul  such  engagements.  To 
the  third  they  returned  this  answer,  that,  whatever 
bull  the  king's  party  might  produce,  they  had  an  au 
thentic  bull  of  the  said  pope  Julius  II.,  dated  7  Calend. 
Januar.  aim.  1503,  which  contained  the  clause  forsan 
cognitam.  Then,  lastly,  as  to  the  presumptions  of  the 
marriage  being  consummated  between  Arthur  and  Ca 
therine,  they  were  idle  and  foreign  conjectures,  and 
could  be  of  no  force  in  the  present  case.  To  which 
they  added,  that  the  queen,  a  lady  of  unquestionable 
virtue  and  reputation,  confidently  asserted  her  virginity 
in  the  king's  hearing,  who  had  nothing  to  allege  against 
it.  This  is  the  substance  of  what  was  said  on  both  sides. 
The  sessions  were  continued  till  July  23,  when  the  court 
breaking  up  without  proceeding  to  sentence,  it  was  ad 
journed  till  the  first  of  October.1 

During  this  time,  the  queen  had  taken  care  to  have 
her  appeal  signified  to  the  pope,  who  considering  the 
dignity  of  her  person,  the  reasons  she  alleged  to  have  the 
cause  removed  into  a  higher  court,  together  with  the 
emperor's  importunity,  the  honour  and  interest  of  whose 
family  was  at  stake,  his  holiness  thought  it  nothing  but 

1  [The  proceedings  at  the  trial  have  been  published  by  Herbert,  261 — 27*8  ; 
and  from  them  it  appears  that  Dodd  is  not  altogether  correct,  in  his  account  of 
what  passed  before  the  legates.  1st.  The  queen  having  appealed  to  Rome,  re 
fused  to  appear  in  the  legatine  court,  either  personally,  or  by  her  attorney.  She 
returned  no  answer,  therefore,  to  the  allegations  of  the  other  side.  2nd.  Only 
one  bull  was  produced ;  and,  in  that,  the  circumstance  of  consummation  was 
expressed, — "  illudque  carnali  copula  forsan  consummavissetis."  Hence  no 
omission  of  this  kind  could  have  been  pleaded.  3rd.  The  other  instrument, 
which  Dodd  calls  a  bull,  was,  in  reality,  a  breve,  dated  on  the  same  day  as  the 
bull,  and  containing,  not,  indeed,  "the  clause  forsan  cognitam,"  but  a  positive 
assertion  that  the  marriage  with  Arthur  had  been  consummated, — "  illudque 
carnali  copula  consummaveritis."  The  real  objection  to  the  validity  of  the  bull 
was,  that  it  had  been  granted  on  the  false  pretence  of  preserving  peace  between 
the  two  kingdoms  :  but  the  breve  was  differently  worded,  on  this  subject;  and 
it  was,  to  repel  the  argument  founded  on  the  expressions  of  the  bull,  that  a  copy 
of  the  breve  was  originally  produced  by  the  queen.  On  the  authenticity  of  the 
breve,  see  Lingard,  iv.  480,  481.  Both  instruments  will  be  found  in  the  Ap 
pendix,  No.  XVIII.— T.] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  195 

common  equity  to  hearken  to  her  petition.  This  had 
already  been  privately  notified  to  one,  if  not  to  both,  of 
the  legates  ;  and  when,  therefore,  at  the  close  of  the 
last  session,  judgment  was  demanded,  on  the  part  of  the 
king,  Campeggio  at  once  acquainted  the  court  with  the 
queen's  appeal,  and  resolutely  refused  to  proceed,  until 
he  should  have  consulted  the  pontiff.  "  I  will  give  no 
judgment  herein,"  said  he,  "  until  I  have  made  relation 
to  the  pope  of  all  our  proceedings,  whose  counsel  and 
commandment  in  this  case  I  will  observe.  The  matter 
is  too  high  and  notable,  for  us  to  give  any  hasty  deci 
sion,  considering  the  highness  of  the  persons,  and  the 
doubtful  allegations  ;  and  also  whose  commissioners  we 
be,  under  whose  authority  we  sit  here.  It  were,  therefore, 
reason,  that  we  should  make  our  chief  head  of  counsel 
in  the  same,  before  we  proceed  to  judgment  definitive. 
I  come  not  so  far,  to  please  any  man  for  fear,  meed,  or 
favour,  be  he  king  or  other.  I  have  no  such  respect  to 
persons,  that  I  will  offend  my  conscience.  I  will  not, 
for  favour  or  displeasure  of  any  high  estate,  or  mighty 
prince,  do  that  thing  that  should  be  against  the  law  of 
God.  I  am  an  old  man,  both  sick  and  impotent,  look 
ing  daily  for  death.  What  should  it  then  avail  me,  to 
put  my  soul  in  the  danger  of  God's  displeasure,  to  my 
utter  damnation,  for  the  favour  of  any  prince,  or  high 
estate  in  this  world  ?  My  coming  arid  being  here,  is 
only  to  see  justice  ministered  according  to  my  consci 
ence,  as  I  thought  thereby  the  matter  either  good  or 
bad.  And  forasmuch  as  I  do  understand  (having  per- 
ceivance  by  the  allegations  and  negations  in  this  matter 
laid  for  both  the  parties)  that  the  truth  in  this  case  is 
very  doubtful  to  be  known,  and  also  that  the  party  de 
fendant  will  make  no  answer  thereunto,  but  doth  rather 
appeal  from  us,  supposing  that  we  be  not  indifferent, 
considering  the  king's  high  dignity  and  authority, 
within  this  his  own  realm,  which  he  hath  over  his  own 
subjects  (and  we  being  his  subjects,  and  having  our 
livings  and  dignities  in  the  same,  she  thinketh  that  we 
cannot  minister  true  and  indifferent  justice,  for  fear  of 
his  displeasure)  ;  therefore,  to  avoid  all  these  ambigui- 

02 


196  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

ties  and  obscure  doubts,  I  intend  not  to  damn  my  soul 
for  no  prince  or  potentate  alive.     1  will,  therefore,  God 
willing,  wade  no  farther  in  this  matter,  unless  I  have  the 
just  opinion  and  judgment,  with  the  assent  of  the  pope, 
and  such  other  of  his  counsel,  as  hath  more  experi 
ence  and  learning  in  such  doubtful  laws,  than  I  have. 
Wherefore,  I  will  adjourn  this  court,  for  this  time,  ac 
cording  to  the  order1  of  the  court  in  Rome,  from  whence 
this  court  and  jurisdiction  is  derived.     And  if  we  should 
go  farther  than  our  commission  doth  warrant  us,  it  were 
folly  and  vain,  and  much  to  our  slander  and  blame  ;  and 
we  might  be  accounted,  for  the  same,  breakers  of  the 
order  of  the  higher  court,  from  whence  we  have,  as  I 
said,  our  original  authorities."2     He  then  closed  the 
proceedings,  and  pronounced  the  court  adjourned  until 
the  1st  of  October.     In  consequence  of  this,  pope  Cle 
ment  VII.  issueth  forth  a  brief  of  avocation  of  the  cause, 
from  the  legatine  court  in  England  to  the  consistorial 
court  at  Rome,  where  Paul  Capisucci,  master  of  the 
rota,  was  to  preside  under  his  holiness  ;  and,  whereas 
it  was  signified  by  the  queen's  party,  that  the  king  of 
England  would  not  answer  to  any  such  appeal,  the  brief 
takes  notice  of  this  rumour,  and  threatens  the  king  with 
excommunication,  if  he  presumes  to  proceed  to  another 
marriage,  before  the  cause  was  decided  in  the  consisto 
rial  court ;  and  then  the  brief  is  ordered  to  be  fixed  upon 
the  great  church  doors,  at  Bruges,  Tournay,  and  Dun 
kirk.3    In  the  interim,  his  holiness  sends  letters  to  both 
the  legates,  to  keep  the  king  in  temper :  they  were  to 
acquaint  him,  that  it  was  common  equity  to  hearken  to 

1  [i.  e.  usage.     It  was  the  custom  of  the  rota  to  adjourn,  at  this  period,  for 
the  summer  vacation  (Herb.  278).     I  notice  this,  because  Dodd,  in  the  few 
lines,  which  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  omit,  erroneously  supposes  the  word 
'  order'  to  refer  to  some  mandate,  already  issued  by  the  pope. —  J1.] 

2  Cavendish,  229—231 

3  [Dodd  has  here  mistaken  the  breve  of  inhibition,  which  forbad  Henry  to 
contract  another  marriage,  until  the  decision  of  his  present  cause,  for  that  of 
avocation,  which  recalled  the  powers  of  the  legates,  and  summoned  Henry  and 
the  queen  to  appear,  in  person  or  by  proxy,  before  the  papal  tribunal  in  Rome. 
The  latter  was  dated  on  the  15th  of  July,  1529,  and  arrived  in  England,  on  the 
fourth  of  the  following  month  (Le  Grand,  iii.  336 ;  Burnet,  i.  73,  75):  the  for 
mer,  which  recited  the  purport  of  its  predecessor,  was  not  signed  until  the  seventh 
of  March,  1530.     It  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XIX.— r.] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  197 

the  queen's  appeal,  and  that  the  promise  made,  that  the 
cause  should  be  determined  by  the  legates,  was  inclusive 
of  such  conditions  as  were  usual  in  all  courts  of  judica 
ture,  which  never  precluded  the  right  of  appealing  to  a 
superior  court.1 

This  great  controversy  seemed  now  to  be  partly  at  a 
stand.  The  disappointed  party  gazed  about,  apprehen 
sive  of  the  issue  ;  nor  could  any  one  guess  whether  or 
no  king  Henry  designed  to  answer  to  the  appeal.  How 
ever,  by  sending  the  earl  of  Wiltshire  and  other 
agents  to  meet  the  pope  at  Bologna,  he  made  a  show 
as  if  he  wrould.  They  did  not,  indeed,  carry  themselves 
as  if  they  had  any  instructions  from  their  master,  to 
tender  an  express  submission  to  the  consistorial  court. 
Their  commission  was,  to  vindicate  the  purity  of  Henry's 
motives,  to  offer  the  pontiff  a  valuable  present,  and  to 
impress  on  him  the  necessity  of  doing  justice  to  a  prince, 
to  whom  the  Roman  see  wras  already  so  deeply  in 
debted.  Clement  replied,  that  he  would  hear  the  cause 
as  soon  as  he  returned  to  Rome,  and  that  justice  should 
assuredly  be  done  :2  but  new  difficulties  being  started 
every  day,  little  or  no  progress  was  made  in  the  affair  : 
on  the  contrary,  both  parties  were  securing  their  out 
works,  and  studying  how  to  defend  themselves,  in  case 
of  an  attack ;  and,  as  the  pope,  by  his  brief,  had  MAR. 
forbidden  the  king  to  take  another  woman  for  his  7- 
wife,  without  leave  from  the  holy  see,  so  the  king  pub 
lished  an  order,  that  no  decree  coming  from  Rome  SEPT. 
should  be  received  in  England.3  This  looked  like  19- 
declaring  war,  or,  at  least,  it  was  a  manifest  token  of 
an  exasperated  mind,  which  was  farther  discovered  by 
the  treatment  queen  Catherine  met  with,  in  the  follow 
ing  year,  when  she  was  ordered  to  quit  Windsor,  and 
withdraw  to  some  one  of  the  king's  manor-houses.4 

What  king  Henry  went  upon,  in  the  meantime,  in 
order  to  accomplish  his  designs,  was,  to  obtain  the  sub 
scriptions  of  what  learned  men  he  could  draw  in,  to  fa 
vour  his  cause.  This,  he  imagined,  would  put  a  good 

1  Herbert,  283.  a  Hall,  768,  769.  3  Herbert,  330.         4  Ib.  354. 


198  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

gloss  upon  his  proceedings  ;  or,  if  he  designed  to  answer 
the  queen's  appeal,  might  make  a  considerable  figure, 
and  be  of  some  weight  in  the  consistorial  court.     Upon 
this  view,  he  resolves  to  propose  his  case  to  the  univer 
sities,  both  at  home  and  abroad.     When  it  was  proposed 
to  the  university  of  Oxford,  the  members  were  hugely 
divided,  as  to  the  manner  of  proceeding,  till,  by  oneway 
or  other,  the  point  was  referred  to  thirty-three  divines, 
some   whereof  were  doctors,    others  were   bachelors ; 
who,  after  several  consultations,  concurred  in  the  opi 
nion,  that  the  marriage  between  king  Henry  and  queen 
Catherine  was  void ;  and,  accordingly,  the  seal  of  the 
university  was  put  to  their  decree,  April  8,  1530.1     But 
this  was  done  neither  with  the  consent  of  the  whole,  nor 
without  suspicion,  not  to  say  visible  marks,  of  unfair 
dealing.     "  The  historian,  Wood,"  says  Collier,  "  com 
plains  of  this  management,  and  takes  the  freedom  to  say, 
the  privileges  of  the  university  were  plainly  over-ruled, 
and  that  the  excluding  the  masters  from  their  right,  in 
voting,  made  the  decree  of  no  force ;  that  several  mem 
bers  of  the  university,  not  thinking  themselves  bound  by 
this  decision,  preached  openly  against   the  divorce." 
Dr.  Burnet,  in  his  account  of  these  matters,  taxeth  Mr. 
Wood  with  being  too  credulous,  and  that  he  drew  his 
informations  from  Dr.  Sanders,  an  exasperated  writer 
of  the  church  of  Rome :  but  Mr.  Collier  undertakes  to 
justify  Mr.  Wood's  account,  from  lord  Herbert's  records, 
which  plainly  make  it  appear,  that  the  king  threatened 
the  university,  and  that  their  statutes  were  violated,  by 
excluding  many  who  had  a  right  to  vote.     "  The  king," 
says  lord  Herbert,  "  sent  his  confessor,  Longland,  to  the 
university  of  Oxford,  to  procure  their  confirmation  of 
his  divorce  from  Catherine.     The  king  joined  entreaties 
and  threats  ;  the  chancellor,  Warham,  advised  them  to 
follow  the  truth  ;  here  senior 'es  facile  assenserunt  regi, 
but  the  younger  sort  (regent  masters)  flatly  denied. 
The  king  sent  them  more  threats,  but  moves  them  not ; 
so  that,  at  last,  the  artists,  or  regent  masters,  although 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  XX.  2  Collier,  ii.  53. 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  199 

by  the  statutes  nothing  can  be  done  without  them,  are 
excluded,  and  the  matter  committed  only  to  divines,  who 
determined  for  the  king,  who  punished  the  regents."  l 
The  substance  of  this  account  is  confirmed  by  the  king's 
letter  to  the  doctors  and  bachelors  of  divinity  ;  wherein, 
speaking  of  the  artists,  he  declares,  "  that,  provided  they 
held  on  in  their  obstinacy,  and  gave  their  sovereign  any 
farther  trouble,  they  should  quickly  be  made  sensible  of 
the  ill  consequence,  and  understand  it  was  not  their  best 
way,  to  provoke  a  hornet's  nest."2 

When  the  point  came  to  be  debated  in  the  university 
of  Cambridge,  some  art  was  made  use  of,  before  the 
king  could  obtain  a  subscription.  Gardiner  and  Fox 
(who  were  sent  thither  purposely  to  manage  the  mem 
bers),  when  they  found  matters  could  not  be  carried  to 
their  liking  in  a  full  congregation,  with  great  difficulty 
brought  the  thing  within  the  compass  of  a  small  com 
mittee  of  twenty-nine  persons,  viz.  Dr.  Buckmaster,  the 
vice-chancellor,  ten  doctors,  sixteen  bachelors,  and  the 
two  proctors.  Many  of  the  university  foresaw  the  dan 
ger  of  this  method,  and,  therefore,  they  moved  the 
question,  whether  or  no  it  should  be  followed.  "  The 
second  time  the  question  was  put,  the  votes  were  equal. 
The  third  time,  by  prevailing  with  some  of  the  contrary 
opinion  to  quit  the  house,  the  order  for  a  committee 
passed.  Gardiner  and  Fox,  having  gained  this  point, 
gave  the  king  an  account,  and  sent  up  the  names  of  the 
committee,  acquainting  the  king  with  the  good  condi 
tion  of  the  affair,  and  that  they  hoped,  in  a  short  time, 
to  procure  a  majority  ;  which  happened  accordingly. 
And  thus,  with  a  great  deal  of  difficulty,  the  king  gained 
his  point,  and  the  marriage  was  declared  unlawful."3 

The  next  attempt  king  Henry  made  was  upon  the 
universities  in  France,  where  he  met  also  with  much 
opposition,  though  he  had  the  king  and  ministry  on 

1  Apud  Collier,  ii.  53. 

2  Collier,  ibid.     See  also  Burnet,  iii.  Rec.  25 — 28.     Wood's  account  of  the 
manner,  in  which  the  decree  was  obtained,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix, 
No.  XXI. 

3  Collier,  ii.  53,  54.    [See  also  Burnet,  i.  Rec.  79—81,  and  iii.  Rec.  20—24. 
The  Cambridge  decree  I  subjoin  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XXII. — TV] 


200  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

his  side.  The  faculty  of  divinity  of  Paris  was  far  from 
being  unanimous.  Natalis  Beda,  an  eminent  doctor, 
headed  a  strong  party  against  the  divorce,  and  was  op 
posed  by  Monseigneur  du  Bellay,  bishop  of  Bayonne, 
one  who  interested  himself  very  much  in  plodding  for 
king  Henry.  When  they  came  to  number  voices,  there 
were  fifty -three  for  the  divorce,  and  forty-two  against 
it,  while  some  stood  neuter.  In  the  conclusion,  the  de 
cree  went  for  the  divorce,  and  was  recorded,  July  2, 
1530.1  The  rest  of  the  universities  of  this  kingdom 
subscribed,  in  like  manner,  in  favour  of  the  king,  viz. 
Orleans,  April  5,  1529;  the  faculty  of  canon  law  of 
Angers,  May  7,  1530;  the  faculty  of  canon  law,  in 
Paris,  May  23,  1530;  Bourges,  June  10,  1530;  Tou 
louse,  October  1,  1530.  But  here  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  some  of  these  universities  expressed  their  sub 
mission  to  the  church  ;  others  mentioned  in  their  decree, 
that  the  marriage  with  Arthur  was  consummated ;  and 
the  faculty  of  divinity  of  Angers,  in  opposition  to  that 

1  [From  Dodd's  words,  in  this  passage,  the  reader  might  naturally  conclude, 
that  the  decree  in  favour  of  the  divorce,  though  resisted  by  a  powerful  opposition, 
was,  nevertheless,  adopted  and  passed  by  a  real  majority  of  the  university  of 
Paris.  The  reverse,  however,  is  the  fact.  For  more  than  two  months,  from  the 
eighth  of  June  to  the  fourteenth  of  August,  the  members  continued  to  assemble 
and  deliberate :  the  question  was  repeatedly  put  to  the  vote ;  and,  with  the 
solitary  exception  of  the  division  which  occurred  on  the  second  of  July,  the 
result  was,  in  every  instance,  unfavourable  to  the  wishes  of  the  king.  On  that 
day,  however,  the  dexterity  of  Henry's  friends  contrived  to  secure  a  majority  in 
his  interest ;  and  the  decree  was  passed  by  a  plurality  of  sixteen,  or,  as  others 
say,  eleven,  voices.  It  was  instantly  entered  among  the  acts  of  the  university. 
To  prevent  its  abrogation,  the  register,  containing  it,  was  carried  away  by  the 
bishop  of  Senlis  ;  and  the  members,  when  they  afterwards  assembled,  for  the 
purpose  of  erasing  it,  were  obliged  to  content  themselves  with  a  prohibitory  vote, 
forbidding  any  one  of  their  body  to  decide  in  favour  of  the  divorce.  See  the 
correspondence  in  Le  Grand  (iii.  458 — 467,  492 — 495),  and  the  testimony  of 
Du  Moulins,  in  Epist.  Poli  (i.  238,  Ed.  1744).  As  an  illustration  of  the 
means,  employed  by  the  French  government,  to  obtain  a  decision  favourable  to 
Henry,  I  may  observe,  that  to  the  prudence  of  the  president  alone  were  Beda 
and  the  other  leaders  of  the  opposition  indebted  for  their  escape  from  prosecu 
tion.  "  Le  Roy,"  says  du  Bellay,  "  a  decerne  commission,  pour  informer  des 
abus  et  insolences  du  dit  Beda  et  ses  consorts,  a  la  requeste  et  instance  de  mon 
sieur  le  comte  de  Vilschire."  But,  adds  the  president,  "  quant  au  fait  de 
1'information,  qu'on  a  ordonne  estre  faite  pour  cette  affaire,  il  me  semble  que 
Ton  la  doit  faire  surseoir,  jusques  a  ce  que  ledit  seigneur  aura  entendu  par  moy 
comment  Taffaire  a  este  conduite,  et  que  la  dite  information  pourroit,  par  avan- 
ture,  plus  nuire  au  dit  roy  d'Angleterre,  que  profiter." — Le  Grand,  iii.  474, 
481.— 71.] 


ART.  ir.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  201 

of  the  civilians,  expressly  declared  against  the  divorce.1 
As  to  the  universities  in  Italy,  the  king  was  in  great 
hopes  of  succeeding,  especially  in  those  of  the  Venetian 
territories,  where  he  had  zealous  agents,  both  English 
and  Italians,  and  a  good  bank  of  money  to  be  employed, 
where  any  mercenary  divine  wras  disposed  to  take  the 
bait.  Dr.  Richard  Crook  was  the  chief  person  employed 
in  those  parts.  How  he  managed,  we  find  in  one  of 
his  letters  to  king  Henry,  in  which  he  acquaints  him, 
that  he  had  paid  twenty-three  crowns  to  friar  Thomas, 
for  his  opinion,  who,  notwithstanding,  had  deserted  him, 
and  declared  against  the  divorce.  He  also  makes  men 
tion  of  an  eminent  divine,  called  Raphael,  who,  accord 
ing  as  he  had  met  with  encouragement,  had  changed 
sides,  being  both  for  and  against  the  king.  Then  he 
tells  the  king  of  one  Ambrose,  a  person  of  note,  in  the 
university  of  Padua,  who  had  twenty  crowns  from  him, 
and  two  friars,  who  had  seventy-seven  crowns,  which 
they  accepted  of  as  a  premium,  for  the  pains  they  took 
in  bringing  over  that  university  to  the  king's  party.2 
By  these,  and  such  like  methods,  Bologna  subscribed 
for  the  divorce,  June  10,  1530,  and  Padua,  July  1,  1530. 

1  See  their  decision,  together  with  the  decisions  of  the  other  French  univer 
sities,  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XXIII. 

2  Apud  Collier,  ii.  58.     That  there  was  foul  play  in  gaining  the  universities, 
appears  from  the  parliament's  declaration,  in  queen  Mary's  reign,  "that  the 
seals,  as  well  of  certain  universities,  in  Italy  and  France,  were  gotten,  as  it 
were  for  a  testimony,  by  the  corruption  of  money,  with  a  few  light  persons, 
scholars  of  the  same  universities ;  as  also  the  seals  of  the  universities  of  this 
realm  were  obtained,  by  great  travel,  sinister  working,  secret  threatenings,  and 
entreatings  of  some  men  of  authority,  specially  sent,  at  that  time,  thither,  for 
the  same  purposes."     Stat.  1,  Mar.  Sess.  2,  cap.  1,  apud  Collier,  ii.  58.     [Be 
sides  the  letter,  mentioned  in  the  text,  there  is  still  extant  another  from  the  same 
writer,  Crook,  in  which,  after  acquainting  Henry  with  his  success  at  Padua, 
he  adds,  "if  that  I  had,  in  time,  been  sufficiently  furnished  with  money,  albeit 
I  have,  beside  this  seal  (the  seal  of  the  university),  procured  unto  your  highness 
tin  hundred  and  ten  subscriptions,  yet  it  had  been  nothing  in  comparison  of 
that,  that  I  might  easily,  and  would,  have  done ;  and,  at  this  hour,  I  assure  your 
highness  that  I  have  neither  provision  nor  money,  and  have  borrowed  an  hun 
dred  crowns,  the  which  also  are  spent  about  the  getting  of  this  seal "  (Bur- 
net,  i.  Rec.  82).     The  same  is  asserted  by  Cavendish.     "There  was,"  says  he, 
"  inestimable  sums  of  money  given  to  the  famous  clerks,  to  choke  them,  and,  in 
especial,  to  such  as  had  the  governance  and  custody  of  their  universities'  seals. 
Insomuch  as  they obtained  of  them  the  universities'  seals,  the  which  ob 
tained,  they  returned  home  again  furnished  for  their  purpose:" — p.  206,  Ed. 
Singer.     See  also  Epist.  Poli,^i.  238;  and  Sleidan,  lib.  9,  p.  140.— 71] 


202  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

Yet,  after  all,  neither  these  nor  any  other  of  the  foreign 
universities  spoke  plain,  as  to  the  question  in  debate  ; 
for,  as  I  hinted  before,  "  the  Sorbonne,  and  the  faculty 
of  canon  law  at  Paris,  the  universities  of  Angers  and 
Bourges,  expressly  suppose  the  marriage  consummated 
between  Arthur  and  Catherine,  which,  as  has  been  al 
ready  related,  the  queen  positively  denied.  This  she 
did  before  the  king  and  court,  at  Blackfriars,  and  ap 
pealed  to  his  highness  for  the  truth  of  it.  Upon  the 
whole,  therefore,  we  cannot  rightly  reckon  these  three 
universities,  on  the  king's  side,  because  the  matter  of 
fact,  upon  which  they  founded  their  resolution,  was 
denied  by  the  queen.  Farther,  it  is  probable  the  other 
universities,  in  Italy  and  France,  went  upon  the  supposal 
of  the  marriage  being  consummated  between  Arthur  and 
Catherine  ;  it  is  not  improbable,  I  say,  they  went  upon 
this  supposition,  both  by  the  strong  expression  in  their 
censure,  and  because  the  reason  of  the  Levitical  prohibi 
tion  could  not  otherwise  so  much  affect  this  marriage."1 
Now,  as  for  the  other  universities  of  Italy,  with  those 
of  Spain  and  Germany,  king  Henry  could  obtain  nothing 
from  them,  to  countenance  his  proceedings.  Even  Me- 
lancthon,  and  the  Lutherans  in  Germany,  who  wanted 
not  will  to  oppose  the  see  of  Rome  in  all  they  could, 
were  very  open  in  declaring  against  the  divorce.  And 
Crook,  in  his  letter  to  the  king,  complains,  "  that  all 
Lutherans  be  utterly  against  your  highness  in  this  cause, 
and  have  letted  as  much  with  their  wretched  power  as 
they  could  and  might,  as  well  here  (Venice)  as  in  Padua 
and  Ferrara,  where  be  no  small  companies  of  them."2 


1  Collier,  ii.  54.     For  the  opinions  of  the  universities  of  Bologna  and  Padua 
see  Appendix,  No.  XXIV. 

2  Burnet,  i.  Rec.  82,  88.     [The  native  reformers  were  equally  opposed  to  the 
divorce.     Tyndal  wrote  his  "  Practice  of  Prelates"  for  the  express  purpose  of 
discussing  the  question,  "  Whether  the  king's  grace  may  be  separated  from 
his  queen,  because  she  was  his  brother's  wife?"     The  treatise  is  little  more 
than  a  furious  invective  against  the  pcpe,  and  against  every  person  connected 
with  him :  yet,  after  a  long  argument,  in  opposition  to  the  advocates  of  the 
divorce,  he  thus  concludes : — "  I  did  my  diligence  a  long  season,  to  know  what 
reasons  our  holy  prelates  should  make  for  their  divorcement,  but  I  could  not 
come  by  them  :  I  searched  what  might  be  said  for  their  part,  but  I  could  find  no 
lawful  cause  of  myself,  by  any  scripture  that  I  ever  read  :  I  communed  with 
divers  learned  men  of  the  matter,  which  also  could  tell  me  no  other  way  than  I 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  203 

So  that,  among  all  the  reformers,  only  Zuinglius,  (Eco- 
lampadius,  and  a  few  sacramentarians,  asserted  the 
nullity  of  the  king's  marriage  ;  nor  could  all  the  pains, 
which  Cranmer  and  sir  Richard  Morison  took  in  Ger 
many  (whither  they  were  sent  to  tamper  with  the  Lu 
therans),  prevail  upon  those  foreigners  to  promote  the 
cause.  Collier,  indeed,  insinuates,  that  the  Lutherans 
had  the  same  opinion  of  the  case  with  those  of  the  king's 
party,  but  were  over-awed  by  the  emperor ;  in  which 
he  pays  no  great  compliment  to  those  zealous  reformers, 
and  is  full  as  bad  an  apologist,  in  saying  nothing  for 
them  by  way  of  excuse,  as  Dr.  Burnet  is,  when  he  under 
takes  to  reconcile  their  behaviour  to  their  belief.1 

If  the  king's  party  were  so  active  abroad,  you  may  be 
sure  nothing  was  omitted  at  home,  that  was  capable  of 
giving  the  cause  the  advantageous  turn  of  popularity. 
To  this  purpose,  while  some  were  employed  in  gaining 
subscriptions  from  universities,  a  great  many  of  the 
nobility  and  clergy  addressed  his  holiness,  in  a  common 
letter,  dated  July  30,  1530,  wherein  they  represent  the 
king's  case  with  all  the  advantages  that  attended  it.  It 
sets  forth,  that  the  circumstances  of  the  succession  were 
very  pressing ;  that  several  universities  had  declared  in 
the  king's  favour,  with  many  other  methods  for  clearing 
the  point,  and  settling  the  king's  conscience ;  and,  what 
ought  to  be  considered  in  its  place,  that  the  obligations 
of  the  see  of  Rome  towards  the  English  nation  were  so 
very  extraordinary,  that  there  was  no  little  ingratitude 
in  refusing  to  make  some  return.  Then  they  seemed  to 
proceed  to  threats,  and  that  they  knew  where  to  find 
relief,  in  case  his  holiness  would  not  yield  to  their  re 
quest  :  nostri  nobis  cur  am  esse  relict am ,  ut  aliunde 
nobis  remedia  conquiramus.  But  then,  again,  they 
come  to  temper,  and  close  their  remonstrance  in  an 
humble  and  supplicatory  style,  which  signifies,  that  they 
did  not  make  a  demand,  but  a  request :  ne  claudantur 

have  showed Wherefore  I  could  not  but  declare  my  mind,  to  discharge  my 

conscience  withal ;  which  thing  I  had  done  long  since,  if  I  could  have  brought 
it  to  pass."— Tyndal's  Works,  i.  477,  Ed.  Russell,  1831.— T.] 
Collier,  ii.  55,  et  seq. 


204  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

paterna  viscera  tarn  obsequentibus,  tarn  benevolis,  tarn 
morigeris  filiis.  The  subscribers  to  this  letter  were, 
the  two  archbishops,  four  bishops,  two  dukes,  two  mar 
quises,  thirteen  earls,  twenty-five  barons,  twenty-two 
abbots,  eight  doctors  of  divinity,  with  several  knights.1 
Pope  Clement,  haying  received  this  remonstrating  letter, 
returned  a  full  answer,  September  27,  the  same  year ; 
the  substance  whereof  was,  that  his  holiness  was  of  opi 
nion,  they  had  been  somewhat  too  unguarded,  and  too 
violent  in  their  expressions,  which  nothing  could  excuse 
but  the  zeal  and  affection  they  had  for  the  king  their 
master;  that  he  acknowledged  many  personal  obliga 
tions  he  had  to  his  present  majesty,  yet  he  thought  they 
exceeded,  when  they  seemed  to  tax  him  with  ingratitude, 
on  that  account.  Indeed,  the  queen's  party  had  charged 
him  with  partiality  in  her  disfavour,  and  he  could  not 
but  own  himself  guilty,  in  some  measure,  when  he  ap 
pointed  judges  of  the  king's  own  nominating,  and  that 
the  cause  should  be  tried,  not  in  an  indifferent  place, 
but  in  England,  and  under  his  own  eye ;  and  if  after 
wards  he  hearkened  to  the  queen's  appeal,  it  was  what 
common  equity  required,  out  of  charity  to  both  parties, 
and  that  nothing  might  be  done  with  precipitation  ;  that 
all  the  princes  in  Europe  would  have  complained  of  him, 
had  he  not  taken  this  method ;  that  he  had  hitherto  put 
off  the  decree  of  the  consistorial  court,  purely  to  plea 
sure  the  king  ;  and  the  delay,  many  complained  of,  was 
occasioned  by  his  majesty,  wTho  had  not  sent  his  agents 
to  Rome  to  attend  the  cause.  As  to  the  opinion  of  the 
universities,  he  said  he  had  only  heard  of  them  by  acci 
dent  ;  they  were  never  communicated  to  him  through 
a  proper  channel,  nor  did  he  know  in  what  manner  they 
had  proceeded  in  their  decisions.  He  owns  the  many 
obligations  the  see  of  Rome  had  to  the  English,  but 
hopes,  that  neither  he,  nor  any  in  his  place,  will  be 
obliged  to  purchase  the  continuation  of  those  favours, 
at  the  expense  of  honour  and  conscience.  He  knew 
what  was  due  to  kings,  but  that  much  more  was  due  to 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  XXV. 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  205 

the  king  of  kings  :  multum  serenitati  suce  debemus, 
tamen  in  judicando  pluris  facere  cogimur  eum  per 
quern  reges  regnant.  He  should  be  glad  to  see  the  suc 
cession  of  the  royal  family  secured  by  an  heir-male,  but 
he  was  not  God,  to  give  one  ;  much  less  was  it  to  be 
sought  by  unlawful  methods.  As  to  their  threats,  he 
cautions  them  to  be  moderate  and  discreet ;  and  that, 
in  the  meantime,  he  will  endeavour  to  bring  them  to 
temper  by  his  patience.  In  fine,  he  had  so  good  an  opi 
nion  of  the  king  of  England,  that  he  was  inclined  to 
think  their  remonstrance  had  not  been  communicated 
to  him,  nor  that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  his  majesty.1 

By  this  common  letter  from  many  of  the  nobility  and 
clergy,  it  appears  how  the  generality  of  the  people, 
especially  those  of  the  court  party,  were  inclined  as  to 
the  divorce.  But,  to  give  still  a  greater  lustre  to  the 
cause,  it  had  been  thought  convenient  that  both  APR. 
houses  of  convocation  should  make  it  the  subject  5- 
of  their  enquiry,  and  make  a  decree  for  or  against  the 
divorce.  The  king  had  found  no  great  difficulty  in  gain 
ing  his  point,  upon  this  occasion.  Care  was  taken 
that  the  clergy  should  have  such  representatives,  as 
would  fall  in  with  the  court  measures  ;  so  that,  when 
the  first  question  was  proposed,  viz.,  "  whether  marrying 
the  relict  of  a  brother  deceased,  after  the  consumma 
tion  of  marriage,  was  prohibited  by  the  law  of  God,  and 
out  of  the  reach  of  papal  dispensation  ?"  the  majority, 
on  the  king's  side,  were  two  hundred  and  sixty-three 
against  nineteen.  When  the  other  question,  concerning 
matter  of  fact,  was  put,  viz.,  "  Whether  the  consumma 
tion  of  marriage  between  Arthur  and  Catherine  was 
sufficiently  proved  ?"  the  cause  being  referred  to  per 
sons  learned  in  the  canon  law,  there  was  a  majority  of 
forty-seven  for  the  consummation,  against  six  that  op 
posed  them.2 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  XXVI. 

2  [Rymer,  xiv.  455.     There  is  a  difference  of  opinion,  as  to  the  time,  at  which 
this  transaction  occurred.     Collier  and  Carte  place  it  in  the  present  year :  Bur- 
net  and  Dr.  Lingard  in  1533.     All,  however,  that  appears,  from  the  instrument 
in  Rymer,  is,  that  the  convocation,  which  assembled  in  1529,  had  continued,  by 
successive  adjournments,  to  sit,  until  1533;  that  on  the  fifth  of  April,  in  the 


206  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

By  these  methods,  king  Henry  became  successful  in 
prosecuting  the  divorce,  among  several  bodies  of  learned 
men  ;  and,  had  there  been  no  superior  tribunal,  nothing 
could  have  been  carried  on  more  effectually  towards  the 
accomplishing  of  his  design.  But,  as  all  these  learned 
men  owned  a  subjection  to  the  see  of  Rome,  and  king 
Henry  himself  had  not  as  yet  withdrawn  himself  from 
its  obedience,  all  the  decrees,  hitherto  made  in  favour  of 
the  divorce,  could  have  no  force,  till  the  pope  had  con 
firmed  them.  This  king  Henry  and  his  party  were  very 
well  apprised  of.  Their  business,  therefore,  in  the  next 
place,  was,  to  bring  his  holiness  to  a  compliance  ;  which 
they  endeavoured,  by  distressing  the  other  party,  and 
depriving  the  see  of  Rome  of  several  privileges,  and 
branches  of  jurisdiction,  which  it  was  accustomed  to  en 
joy.  Besides  renewing  the  ancient  laws  against  appeals 
to  Rome,  and  the  orders  which  had  already  been  issued 
out,  that  no  bull,  brief,  or  other  decree  of  any  kind, 
coming  from  the  pope,  should  be  received  by  any  of  the 
king's  subjects,  without  his  express  approbation,  his 
majesty  likewise,  to  show  his  resentment,  began  to 
threaten  the  holy  see  with  taking  away  annates,  or  first 
fruits,  Peter-pence,  and  such  like  pensions  paid  to  the 
pope,  and,  by  degrees,  put  a  stop  to  them.  Now  also 
the  great  cardinal  Wolsey  was  brought  into  disgrace, 
and  publicly  prosecuted  for  holding  a  legatine  court,  in 
the  pope's  name  (though  he  had  the  king's  hand  and 
seal  to  authorize  what  he  did),  and  died  under  the  stern 
frowns  of  the  court,  and  almost  within  sight  of  the 
block.  He,  and  all  the  bishops  and  clergy  in  the  kingdom, 
were  found  guilty  of  a  premunire,  and  were  obliged  to 
redeem  the  loss  of  all  their  substance,  by  an  exorbitant 
composition.  Not  to  enter  upon  the  legality  of  this 
proceeding,  it  was  an  indication  of  king  Henry's  tem- 

latter  year,  its  acts  were  searched,  at  the  request  of  Henry ;  and  that  it  was  then 
discovered,  that  the  decision  in  question  had  lately  ("  nuper")  been  pronounced 
(Rymer,  xiv.  454).  The  same  remark  is  applicable  to  the  vote  of  the  convoca 
tion  at  York,  which  Collier,  and,  after  him,  Dr.  Lingard,  assigns  to  the  thirteenth 
of  May,  1533.  It  was  on  that  day,  that  the  acts  were  searched,  and  that  the 
votes  were  declared,  in  a  public  instrument,  to  have  been  "lately"  taken 
(Idem,  474).  For  the  form  of  summoning  the  convocation  at  this  time,  see 
Appendix,  No.  XXVII.— TV] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE  207 

per,  and  that  he  was  resolved  to  stretch  the  laws  as 
far  as  they  would  go,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  see  of 
Rome.  But  of  these  matters  I  shall  have  an  occasion 
to  speak  more  at  large  hereafter.1 

1  [In  the  Appendix,  No.  XXVIII,  will  be  found  a  despatch  from  Dr.  Bennet 
to  the  king,  containing  some  additional  information,  on  ihe  subject  of  Henry's 
proceedings  during  the  present  year.  In  January,  Bennet  had  accompanied 
the  earl  of  Wiltshire,  in  his  mission  to  the  emperor  and  the  pope,  at  Bologna. 
He  was  afterwards  employed  to  continue  the  negotiation  with  Clement;  and, 
when  the  latter  returned  to  Rome,  was  ordered  to  proceed,  in  quality  of  envoy, 
to  that  city.  His  instructions  were,  to  act  in  concert  with  the  bishop  of  Tarbes, 
now  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  cardinal ;  to  solicit  a  commission  either  for  the 
prelates  of  Canterbury,  London,  and  Lincoln,  or,  if  that  were  refused,  for  the 
clergy  of  the  archdiocese  of  Canterbury,  empowering  them  to  hear  and  decide 
the  cause  of  the  divorce,  in  England ;  and,  supposing  this  request  to  have 
failed,  to  enquire  whether,  in  the  event  of  Henry's  taking  the  matter  into  his 
own  hands,  and  deciding  it  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience,  the 
pontiff  would  engage  to  abstain  from  all  interference,  either  by  inhibition,  in 
terdict,  or  otherwise.  If  the  answer  were  unfavourable,  he  was  then  to  seek  an 
extension  of  time,  and  to  demand  that  all  farther  proceedings  should  be  stayed 
for  the  present.  Clement  listened  to  the  application,  and  replied  at  once  to  the 
demand.  To  the  commission  he  had  no  objection,  provided  the  queen's  consent 
could  be  obtained.  But  he  would  enter  into  no  engagement  as  to  the  future. 
The  queen  had  appealed  to  his  tribunal :  justice  and  duty  alike  required  that 
he  should  listen  to  her ;  and  neither  king  nor  emperor  should  induce  him  to 
swerve  from  the  line,  which  that  justice  and  that  duty  prescribed.  On  the  sub 
ject  of  delay,  he  would  willingly  gratify  the  king.  Still,  it  was  necessary  to 
consult  the  other  side.  He  had,  therefore,  already  written  to  the  emperor, 
stating  the  wishes  of  the  English  monarch,  and  requesting  his  assent  to  such 
an  arrangement ;  and,  as  he  should  probably  receive  an  answer  to  his  letter 
within;  the  space  of  three  weeks,  he  would,  to  manifest  his  affection  for  the  king, 
suspend  the  progress  of  the  suit  for  that  term.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  this 
forms  a  necessary  accompaniment  to  the  three  letters  of  De  Raince,  printed  in 
Le  Grand,  iii.  509—515. 

There  is  another  subject,  incidentally  mentioned  in  Bennet's  despatch,  to 
which  I  will  here  briefly  advert.  The  reader  will  recollect  the  enquiries  for 
merly  proposed  by  Henry,  as  to  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  dispensation  to 
have  two  wives.  These  enquiries,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  were  addressed, 
not  to  the  pope,  but  to  the  canonists  at  Rome.  The  suggestion,  however, 
became  known ;  Clement  resolved  to  turn  it  to  advantage ;  and,  in  one  of  his 
first  conversations  with  Bennet,  casually  mentioned  the  expedient,  as  a  matter 
not  undeserving  of  consideration.  On  these  facts,  bishop  Burnet,  assisted  by 
the  more  than  doubtful  authority  of  Gregory  da  Casali,  has  founded  a  charge 
against  the  pontiff,  of  a  willingness  to  countenance  polygamy  (i.  90).  The  pre 
sent  despatch,  however,  satisfactorily  disposes  of  the  accusation.  It  shews  that 
it  was  to  Bennet,  not  to  Casali,  that  Clement  mentioned  the  subject;  that  it 
was  proposed  for  the  purpose  either  of  amusing  Henry,  or  of  raising  an  argu 
ment  against  him  ;  and  that,  instead  of  admitting,  the  pope  distinctly  denied, 
the  validity  ^of  any  dispensation,  which  should  pretend  to  authorize  a  marriage 
with  two  women  at  the  same  time.  Casali's  letter,  which  has  supplied  Burnet, 
and,  more  recently,  Mr.  Hallam  (Constitut.  Hist.  i.  73,  note),  with  the  grounds 
of  his  accusation,  is  in  Herbert,  330.  From  a  comparison  of  dates,  it  is  not  im 
probable  that  the  writer  had  heard  something  of  the  conversation  between  Cle 
ment  and  Bennet,  and,  without  knowing  the  details,  had  hastened  to  communi 
cate  it  to  Henry,  as  an  evidence  of  his  zeal  in  the  service  of  that  monarch. — T.~\ 


208  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

Most  part  of  the  year  1531  being  spent,  without 
any  progress  in  the  controversy  of  the  divorce,  and 
the  king's  late  proceedings  against  the  see  of  Rome 
rather  prognosticating  a  farther  rupture,  than  an 
agreement,  this  induced  the  French  to  interpose,  and 
appear  as  mediators.1  For,  though  hitherto  they  had 

1  [I  may  here  briefly  sketch  the  proceedings  at  Rome,  during  this  period. 
The  delay  of  three  weeks,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  had  been  gradually 
extended  to  the  commencement  of  the  new  year  (1531),  when  Clement,  appre 
hensive  that  Henry  would  seek  a  decision  from  some  tribunal  of  his  own  erec 
tion,  published  an  inhibitory  breve,  forbidding  any  person,  or  court  whatsoever,  to 
give  sentence  in  the  cause  of  the  divorce. — (See  Appendix,  No.  XXIX).  This 
proceeding  encouraged  the  imperialists  to  press,  with  renewed  importunity,  for 
the  decision  of  the  pope.  But  the  partialities  of  Clement  were  secretly  inclined 
to  Henry :  the  remonstrances  of  the  French  ambassador  were  added  to  those  of 
the  English  agents,  to  procure  a  suspension  of  the  judgment;  and,  on  the  1st 
of  April,  after  another  three  months  of  delay,  de  Raince  was  enabled  to  write 
to  the  grand  master  of  France,  that  no  sentence  would  certainly  be  pronounced 
until  the  beginning  of  the  following  June.  (Le  Grand,  iii.  515 — 524).  In  the 
meantime,  the  pontiff,  who  had  ineffectually  summoned  Henry  to  appear  in 
Rome,  had  also  requested  him  to  appoint  an  agent,  with  the  title  of  excusator, 
who  might  attend  the  consistory,  and  show  cause  for  the  absence  of  his  master. 
Instead  of  complying  with  this  request,  the  king  consulted  the  university  of 
Orleans,  the  faculty  of  law,  and  other  learned  bodies  in  Paris,  on  the  sub 
ject  ;  and  by  them  was  assured,  1st,  that  he  was  not  bound  to  appear,  either  in 
person  or  by  attorney,  in  Rome,  but  that  the  cause  ought  to  be  heard  and 
decided  in  some  safe  place,  by  judges  acceptable  to  both  parties:  2nd,  that 
every  subject,  in  virtue  of  his  allegiance  alone,  was  sufficiently  authorized  to  act 
as  excusator,  on  behalf  of  his  sovereign  ;  and  that  it  was,  therefore,  unnecessary 
to  furnish  any  person  with  specific  powers  for  that  purpose  (Rymer,  xiv. 
416 — 423).  This  answer  arrived,  from  the  university  and  the  Paris  advocates 
in  June,  from  the  faculty  of  law  in  September :  it  was  followed,  during  the 
autumn,  by  Bennet,  who  returned  from  Rome ;  and,  for  some  time,  the  progress 
of  the  suit  seems  to  have  been  wholely  suspended.  At  length,  however,  Henry 
resolved  to  make  another  attempt.  At  the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  he 
again  despatched  Bennet,  and,  after  him,  Bonner  and  Sir  Edward  Carne,  to  the 
pontiff  (Herb.  363,  364 ;  Le  Grand,  i.  226).  Carne,  who  had  no  written 
authority,  was  to  act  as  excusator  (Le  Grand,  i.  220) ;  Bonner  was  furnished 
with  an  informal  proxy,  whose  object  does  not  appear ;  but  Bennet  was,  by 
every  possible  expedient,  whether  of  bribes  or  entreaties,  to  prevent  a  decision 
of  the  case  at  Rome,  and  to  procure  a  commission  from  the  pope,  for  trying  the 
cause  elsewhere. — (See  Appendix,  No.  XXX).  By  the  beginning  of  February, 
the  three  agents  had  arrived  at  their  destination.  Carne  immediately  demanded 
to  be  admitted  as  excusator,  and  was  opposed  by  the  imperialists,  who  main 
tained,  first,  that  his  powers  were  insufficient ;  secondly,  that  no  valid  reason 
could  be  assigned  for  the  absence  of  his  master.  On  these  points,  a  long  and 
disedifying  discussion  ensued.  Week  after  week,  for  nearly  five  months,  the 
consistory  met,  to  hear  the  arguments  of  counsel.  As  the  case  proceeded,  the 
warmth  and  violence  of  the  several  advocates  increased  :  the  pope,  to  escape 
from  the  disorder,  was  frequently  obliged  to  dissolve  the  meetings  abruptly; 
while  the  populace  of  Rome,  attracted  by  the  novelty  of  the  scene,  flocked  to 
the  pleadings,  as  they  would  to  the  entertainment  of  a  theatre.  At  length,  in 
July,  Clement  found  it  necessary  to  terminate  these  extraordinary  proceedings  . 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  209 

been  great  sticklers  for  the  divorce,  when  they  were 
in  hopes  thereby  to  bring  about  a  match  between  king 
Henry  and  a  princess  of  France,  yet,  when  they  came 
to  be  fully  convinced  that  Anne  Boleyn  was  the  person 
made  choice  of,  their  zeal  and  politics  drew  them 
another  way ;  but  so,  that  they  would  omit  nothing 
towards  keeping  up  a  good  understanding  with  the 
king  of  England.  It  had  been  agreed  between  the 
two  kings,  that  they  should  have  an  interview.  When 
they  were  met,  which  was  in  October,  1532, 
among  other  matters,  something  was  proposed, 
tending  towards  a  reconciliation  between  king  Henry 
and  the  see  of  Rome  ;  and  it  was  agreed,  that  the  two 
French  cardinals,  Tournon  and  Grammont,  being  soon 
after  to  go  to  Rome  on  the  French  king's  affairs, 
should,  at  the  same  time,  use  their  endeavours  with 
his  holiness,  in  favour  of  the  king  of  England.  The 
general  method  proposed  was,  that,  whereas  a  meeting 
and  conference  was,  in  a  little  time,  to  be  appointed 
between  the  pope  and  the  king  of  France,  it  would 
be  very  convenient,  if  the  king  of  England  would 
contrive  to  be  one  at  that  conference,  where,  face  to 
face,  they  might  talk  over  what  related  to  that  great 
and  tedious  contest,  which  had  been  between  them. 
When  the  two  French  cardinals  arrived  at  Rome, 


Without  professing  to  deny  the  right,  he  declined,  under  the  circumstances,  to 
be  guided  by  the  arguments,  of  the  excusator.  He,  therefore,  decided  that  Carne 
should  not  be  received  in  that  capacity ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  availed  him 
self  of  the  pretext,  that  the  vacation  was  now  at  hand,  and  adjourned  the  far 
ther  hearing  of  the  cause  until  November.  He  then  wrote  to  Henry,  and 
accompanied  his  letter  with  another  from  the  college  of  cardinals.  He  entreated 
the  king  to  appear,  by  his  attorney,  in  Rome ;  he  engaged,  in  that  case,  to  grant 
a  commission  for  taking  the  depositions,  and  hearing  the  cause,  in  England ; 
and  he  promised  to  reserve  to  himself  only  the  final  judgment,  which  must 
necessarily  be  pronounced  by  the  Roman  see  (Le  Grand,  i.  226 — 230 ;  Bur- 
net,  i.  Rec.  104 — 112).  But  Henry,  who  still  looked  to  the  power  of  bribes,  or 
of  intimidation,  for  success  (see  Appendix,  No.  XXXI.),  scornfully  rejected 
these  proposals.  When  November,  therefore,  arrived,  he  was  again  summoned 
to  appear;  and,  in  reply,  Carne  immediately  protested,  in  the  name  of  his 
master,  against  the  validity  of  the  summons.  Clement,  however,  at  once  rejected 
the  protest :  the  proceedings  were  renewed ;  and  it  was  only  in  compliance  with 
the  entreaties  of  the  French  ambassadors,  mentioned  presently  in  the  text,  that 
a  definitive  sentence  was  not  then  pronounced. — Le  Grand,  i.  235. —  71.] 

VOL.    I.  P 


210  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

they  dissembled  not  the  case  with  his  holiness :  they 
told  him  plainly,  that  they  had  observed  such  disposi 
tions  in  the  king  of  England,  that  they  believed  he 
would  make  an  entire  breach  with  the  see  of  Rome,  if 
he  did  not  obtain  a  divorce  ;  wherefore,  they  earnestly 
begged  of  his  holiness,  that,  all  politic  considerations 
laid  aside,  he  would  immediately  grant  a  divorce,  pro 
vided  the  law  of  God  would  permit  it.  What  the  French 
obtained,  by  their  mediation,  was,  only  to  have  the  time 
prolonged,  before  a  decree  should  be  given,  whereby 
king  Henry  might  have  leisure  to  consider  the  matter, 
and  not  push  himself  upon  any  rash  measures.1 

But,  as  it  soon  appeared,  the  king  was  gone  too  far 
to  be  recalled ;  for  Anne  Boleyn  had  made  an  entire 
conquest,  and  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  of  a  queen, 
except  title  and  ceremony.  He  had  created  her  mar 
chioness  of  Pembroke,  and  carried  her  along  with  him, 
to  see  and  be  seen  at  the  late  famous  interview  in  France. 
"  He  grows  every  day  more  open  in  his  carriage  towards 
her ;  takes  her  along  with  him  in  his  progress ;  dines 
with  her  privately  in  her  chamber,  and  causeth  almost 
all  addresses  to  be  made  by  her,  in  matters  of  the  great 
est  moment."2  However,  it  was  a  general  surprise, 
when  it  came  to  be  understood  how  near  she  was  be 
ing  the  king's  wife  ;  for,  either  while  she  was  with  the 
king,  at  Calais,  or  soon  after  their  return  into  England, 
they  were  privately  married,  by  Dr.  Roland  Lee,  one  of 
his  majesty's  chaplains,  the  king  having  first  assured  him, 
that  the  pope  had  granted  him  a  bull  of  divorce  from 
queen  Catherine.  "  This  may  seem  an  unusual  step, 
because  the  divorce  was  still  undecided ;  but  the  king 
broke  through  this  difficulty."3  It  was  commonly  said 
that  she  was  married,  November  14  ;  but  Burnet  tells  us, 
that  the  day  was  given  out  wrong  on  design ;  yet  he 
leaves  the  reader  to  guess  at  the  design,  which,  I  sup- 

1  Herb.  367,  368 ;  Le  Grand,  i.  234. 

2  Heylin,  260,261. 

3  Collier,  ii.  71.     [See  also  Sanders,  de  Schism.  83,  Edit.  1610 ;  Le  Grand, 
ii.  110;  Heylin,  176.— TYj 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  211 

pose,  must  have  been,  that  the  king  might  still  amuse 
the  world  with  the  imagination,  that  a  trial  of  the  cause 
was  still  to  be  expected.1 

Now,  though  the  king,  by  marrying  Anne  Boleyn, 
had  taken  a  short  way  of  putting  an  end  to  the  contro 
versy,  yet  neither  his  friends  nor  his  enemies  could  be 
truly  satisfied  with  the  method.  His  enemies  might  at 
tack  him  for  disobeying  the  church  and  see  of  Rome, 
from  whence  he  waited  for  a  decree,  and  hitherto  made 
no  express  disclaim  of  the  authority.  His  friends  could 
make  no  apology  for  him,  who  had  neglected  those 
rules,  which  they  thought  necessary  for  his  justification. 
However,  to  pat  a  gloss  upon  the  matter,  and  make  the 
best  of  such  irregular  proceedings,  a  way  was  contrived 
to  make  this  marriage  pass  upon  the  world,  as  a  legal 
and  canonical  ceremony,  though,  indeed,  it  was  an  un 
paralleled  instance  of  rashness  and  precipitation.  Let 
us  see,  then,  how  they  went  about,  to  rectify  this  blun 
der.  The  design,  in  the  main,  was,  to  continue  the 
trial  about  the  divorce,  and,  at  length,  have  it  deter 
mined  among  themselves,  without  any  regard  to  the  see 
of  Rome.  The  death  of  archbishop  Warham,  which 
happened,  August  23,  1532,  and  under  whom  the  con 
troversy  moved  very  slowly,  gave  the  king  an  oppor 
tunity  of  embracing  the  method  they  had  chosen.  "  And, 
to  succeed  the  better  in  this  affair,  a  proper  person  wras 
to  be  pitched  upon,  for  the  see  of  Canterbury  ;  a  person 
of  character  and  resolution,  and  riot  over  obsequious  to 
the  see  of  Rome.  These  qualities  seemed  to  concur  in 
Dr.  Cranmer."2  This  gentleman  was  a  divine  of  Cam 
bridge,  where  he  was  fellow  of  a  college,  but,  happen 
ing  to  marry,  lost  his  fellowship.  His  wife  dying,  he 
betook  himself  again  to  an  academical  life.  When  the 
controversy  about  the  king's  marriage  wras  first  dis 
coursed  of,  Cranmer  w7as  tutor  to  two  young  gentlemen, 


1  [The  real  date  of  the  marriage  was  January  the  25th,  1533  (Stowe,  561; 
Archaeologia,  xviii.  81) :  the  motive  for  assigning  it  to  an  earlier  period,  was 
evidently  to  create  a  belief,  that  the  child,  with  which  Anne  was  already  preg 
nant,  had  been  begotten  in  wedlock. — T.~] 

2  Collier,  ii.  73. 

P   2 


212  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI 

Mr  Cressy's  sons,  of  Waltham,  whither  he  and  his  pupils 
had  retired,  during  the  time  that  Cambridge  was  infected 
with  the  plague.  Now,  the  king  being  at  Waltham,  Dr. 
Fox,  his  almoner,  lodged  at  Mr.  Cressy's  house,  where, 
as  he  discoursed  with  Mr.  Cranmer  concerning  the 
king's  marriage,  Cranmer  said,  that  if  it  could  be  proved 
that  marrying  a  brother's  wife  was  contrary  to  the  law 
of  God,  a  dispensation  would  be  out  of  the  pope's  power. 
"  This  passage  Fox  reports  to  the  king,  who,  well  pleased 
thereat,  professes,  that  this  man  had  the  sow  by  the 
right  ear."  l  This,  indeed,  was  the  topic  the  king  went 
upon,  and  the  only  one  that  could  be  serviceable  to 
him  ;  but,  besides  Cranmer's  intimation,  the  nature  of 
the  question  required  that  he  should  insist  upon  it. 
Afterwards,  Dr.  Cranmer  became  chaplain  to  the  earl 
of  Wiltshire,  father  to  Anne  Boleyn,  and  was  recom 
mended  by  him  to  the  king,  as  a  person  zealous  for  him, 
in  the  cause  of  the  divorce ;  upon  which,  he  was  em 
ployed  by  his  majesty  abroad,  both  in  Italy,  Germany, 
and  France.  He  resided  in  Germany,  at  the  time  of 
archbishop  Warham's  death,  where  he  was  negotiating 
matters  with  the  Lutheran  divines,  in  favour  of  the  king, 
and  was  nominated  for  the  see  of  Canterbury,  during 
his  abode  there.  Mr  Echard  tell  us,  that,  in  imitation 
of  some  of  the  ancient  fathers,  he  would  have  declined 
that  honour  ;2  but  others  suspect  the  demur  (if  there  was 
any)  was  upon  another  account.  It  is  well  known,  that, 
by  his  frequent  conversation  with  the  Lutherans,  he  had 
imbibed  several  of  their  principles,  and  was  so  far  en 
gaged  that  way,  as,  notwithstanding  his  vows,  to  have 
taken  a  wife,  who  is  said  to  have  been  either  sister  or 
daughter  to  Osiander,  the  great  pillar  of  Lutheranism. 
Now,  it  is  supposed,  that  these  canonical  impediments 
were  the  occasion  that  he  could  not,  on  a  sudden,  re 
solve  himself  as  to  the  dignity  offered  him  by  the  king. 
However,  at  last,  he  found  out  a  way  how  to  extricate 
himself  from  these  difficulties;  he  left  his  consort  behind 
him,  at  least  for  the  present,  and  submitted  to  all  things 

1  Fuller,  Ch.  Hist.  (179).  2  Echard,  i.  (>74. 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  213 

that  were  required  of  him,  either  by  the  king,  or  the  see 
of  Rome.     He  sued  to  Rome  for  his  bulls  (notwith 
standing  the  late  orders  against  receiving  any  de 
crees  from  thence),  and  the  pope  readily  granted  them. 
He  paid  900  ducats,  by  way  of  composition  for  the  an- 
nates,   though  there  had  been  an  order  against  such 
payments.     Nay,  he  accepted  the  title  of  the  pope's  le 
gate,  and  made  the  customary  vow  of  obedience  to  the 
holy  see,  and  was  afterwards  consecrated,  March  30, 
1533.1 

Now,  it  cannot  be  thought  that  either  the  king  or 
Cranmer  was  entirely  sincere,  upon  this  occasion,  but 
rather  that  their  behaviour  was  a  serviceable  conde 
scension,  such  as  the  juncture  required.  This  seems 
probable,  from  the  inconsistency  observable  in  the  whole 
management  of  the  affair,  especially,  Cranmer' s  carriage 
is  a  plain  proof  of  it.  For,  a  little  before  the  ceremony  of 
his  consecration,  he  withdrew  into  a  private  corner,  and 
there  made  a  protest  against  what  he  was  going  to  swear 
to,  in  regard  of  his  obedience  to  the  see  of  Rome.2 
Some  of  our  historians,  endeavouring  to  palliate  this 
matter,  make  an  apology  for  him,  after  an  odd  sort  of  a 
manner.  "  If  this  seemed  too  artificial,"  says  one, 
"  for  a  man  of  his  sincerity,  yet  still  he  acted  fairly,  and 
without  actual  deceit" 3  Another  says,  "  If  he  did  not 
wholly  save  his  integrity,  yet  it  was  plain  he  intended 
no  cheat,  but  to  act  fairly,  and  above  board."4  "  But 
how  a  man  can  act  fairly,"  says  Mr  Collier,  "  and  yet 
not  save  his  integrity,  is  farther  than  I  can  discover ; 
arid,  therefore,  with  due  regard  to  Cranmer 's  memory, 
it  must  be  said,  there  was  something  of  human  infirmity 
in  this  management."5  Several  of  these  human  infirmities 
were  afterwards  observed  in  Cranmer's  conduct,  if  those 
errors  in  life  can  properly  be  called  infirmities,  which 
are  the  result  of  thought,  and  mature  deliberation,  and 

1  Strype's  Cranmer,  10,  11,  13,  14,  18,  20;  Burnet,  i.  123,  124.  [Dr.  Lin- 
gard  has  ineontestably  proved,  from  a  variety  of  dates,  that  Cranmer  could  not 
possibly  have  shown  any  reluctance  or  hesitation  to  accept  the  proffered  honour. 
Hist.  vi.  191,  note.  Edit.  1838.— TV] 

2  See  Appendix,  No.  XXXII.  3  Echard,  i.  (375. 

4  Burnet,  i.  124.  *  Collier,  ii.  74. 


214  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

where  matters  of  the  greatest  concern  are  in  election. 
What  I  shall  hereafter  take  notice  of,  in  this  respect,  is 
recorded  both  in  protestant  and  catholic  writers,  who 
have  charged  this  prelate  with  many  inconsistencies  in 
his  behaviour,,  and  scandalous  prevarications,  even  from 
his  first  setting  out  into  the  world,  till  the  time  of  his 
death. 

To  proceed;  Cranmer  being  thus  qualified,  both  by 
nature,  affection,  and  dignity,  to  become  useful  to  his 
master  (for  as  Mr.  Echard  candidly  owns,  "  he  seemed, 
in  some  things,  too  much  subject  to  the  king's  impe 
rious  temper") ;!  the  grand  affair  of  the  divorce  was 
committed  to  his  management.  The  pope  could  not  be 
brought  to  comply.  The  king  had  caused  himself  to 
be  styled  head  of  the  church  of  England,  by  the  bishops 
and  clergy,  in  the  submission  they  paid  to  him,  when 
they  were  declared  guilty  of  a  premunire  ;  and  Cran 
mer  enjoying  a  metropolitic  power  over  the  bishops,  &c., 
this  was  the  ground  they  went  upon,  and  the  authority 
they  designed  to  justify  themselves  by,  in  deciding  the 
controversy.  But,  then,  the  difficulty  was,  in  whom 
the  radical  power  was  lodged,  and  by  whom  the  execu 
tive  power  should  be  performed  ?  Here,  indeed,  they 
were  pinched.  However,  it  happened  in  this  manner. 
APR.  After  the  method  was  pitched  upon,  Cranmer 
1L  writes  to  the  king,  desiring  that  his  majesty  would 
be  pleased  to  empower  him  to  examine,  and  pronounce 
a  final  sentence  upon  the  controversy.2  And,  accord 
ingly,  the  king,  by  an  instrument  sealed  and  signed 
with  his  royal  hand,  gives  him  authority  to  call  a  court, 
and  put  an  end  to  the  debate.3  By  the  strength  of  this 

1  Echard,  i.  683. 

2  [On  this,  and  another  letter,  written  by  Cranmer,  on  the  same  day,  and  on 
the  same  subject,  to  Henry,  see  an  interesting  note,  appended,  by  Dr.  Lin- 
gard,  to  the  sixth  volume  of  the  recent  edition  of  his  History,  p.  390. — T.~\ 

3  [The  letter  is  in  Collier,  ii.  Rec.  p.  15.     In  it,  Henry  addresses  Cranmer 
as  one,  "  whom  God  and  we  have  ordained  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  whose 
office  it  has  been,  and  is,  appertaining,  by  the  sufferance  of  us  and  our  pro 
genitors,  as  ye  write  yourself  most  justly  and  truly,  to  order,  judge,  and  deter 
mine  mere  spiritual  causes,  within  this  our  realm."     He  says  farther,  "  albeit 
we,  being  your  king  and  sovereign,  do  recognize  no  superior  in  earth,  but  only 
God,  and  not  being  subject  to  the  laws  of  any  earthly  creature,  yet,  because  ye 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  215 

instrument,  Cranmer  summons  a  court,,  to  be  held  at 
Dunstable,  where  several  bishops,  divines,  and  civilians 
arrived,  May  8,  1533.  The  synod  sitting,  the  king  was 
first  called  upon,  who  appeared  by  his  proctor.  Then 
the  queen  being  twice  called,  and  neither  appearing  in 
person,  nor  by  any  one  for  her,  she  was  pronounced 
contumax,  and,  May  23,  the  archbishop  passed  sentence, 
that  the  marriage  between  king  Henry  and  Catherine 
was  void  from  the  beginning.1  And  now  the  affair  of 
Anne  Boleyn  was  no  longer  a  secret ;  for,  soon  after,  the 
marriage  ceremony  was  publicly  performed,  though  they 
had  been  privately  married,  about  five  months  before, 
and  Anne  Boleyn' s  appearing  to  be  big  with  child,  was 
the  occasion  that  these  matters  could  not  conveniently 
be  deferred  any  longer.2  Several  writers  have  made 
themselves  merry  with  this  juggle,  as  they  call  it,  be 
tween  king  Henry  VIII.  and  the  archbishop.  After  an 
application,  of  near  seven  years'  continuance,  to  the  see 
of  Rome  for  relief,  Cranmer  found  out  the  secret,  that 
the  king  himself  was  the  proper  judge  of  the  affair.  I 
shall  not  pretend  to  determine  that  grand  controversy, 
how  far  the  power  of  princes  extends,  in  regard  of  the 
Church  ;  but,  certainly,  matter  of  fact  is  flagrantly  mis 
represented,  when  Cranmer 3  informs  the  king,  that  his 
predecessors  looked  upon  it  to  belong  to  their  office,  to 
determine  causes  merely  spiritual ;  of  which  practice,  I 
believe,  the  English  history  does  not  afford  so  much  as 
one  single  precedent,  or  even  so  much  as  an  attempt  that 
way :  and,  as  for  dispensations  concerning  marriages,  it 
is  well  known  through  what  hands  they  usually  passed, 
and  that  the  kings  of  England,  though  they  might  pre 
tend  to  a  right  of  nominating  the  archbishops  of  Can- 
be,  under  us,  by  God's  calling  and  ours,  the  most  principal  minister  of  our 
spiritual  jurisdiction,  within  this  our  realm,  [we]  will  not,  therefore,  refuse 
your  humble  request,  to  make  an  end,  in  our  said  great  cause  of  matri 
mony." — 7VJ 

1  [Rymer,  xiv.  467—472 :  Ellis,  ii.  35,  36;  Herb.  375—378.     The  sentence 
is  also  in  Burnet,i.  Rec.  p.  112,  and  Wilkins,  Concil.  Hi.  759.— T.~\ 

2  Collier,  ii.  Rec.  p.  16. 

3  [In  his  letter  to  Henry,  requesting  permission  to  hear  and  determine  the 
cause.— TV] 


216  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

terbury,  yet,  from  the  beginning,  neither  they  nor  any 
other  bishops  were  looked  upon  as  sufficiently  qualified 
to  exercise  their  juridical  power,  unless  they  were  first 
approved  of,  and  confirmed,  by  the  see  of  Rome  ;  and 
this,  I  suppose,  Cranmer  was  mindful  of,  when,  before 
his  consecration,  he  thought  it  proper,  and  necessary, 
to  apply  himself  to  the  pope.  It  is  allowed,  that  Cran 
mer  was  made  bishop  by  God,  and  by  the  king's  per 
mission  and  appointment,  and  that  his  majesty  might 
empower  him  to  call  a  court ;  but  neither  had  Cranmer 
any  independent  power,  of  himself,  to  pronounce  upon 
the  controversy  (the  oath  he  had  taken  to  obey  the  see 
of  Rome,  and  the  laws  of  the  church,  restraining  him  in 
that  point),  nor  could  the  king  give  him  authority  to 
act  in  the  case,  who,  not  being  capable  of  a  power 
merely  spiritual,  could  not  give  what  he  had  not ;  and, 
besides,  he  was  not  as  yet  invested  with  that  spiritual 
supremacy,  which  he  afterwards  laid  claim  to. 

Before  I  proceed  to  give  an  account  how  these  mat 
ters  were  relished  by  the  see  of  Rome,  it  will  be  requi 
site  to  observe,  that,  ever  since  the  breaking  up  of  the 
legatine  court,  at  Blackfriars,  king  Henry  took  all  occa 
sions  to  show  his  resentment ;  and,  though  a  corres 
pondence  was  still  kept  on,  yet  it  was  far  from  being  in 
a  friendly  manner.  The  orders  issued  out  by  his  ma 
jesty,  concerning  decrees  from  Rome;  the  customary 
payments  of  annates,  Peter -pence,  &c.  were  a  great  sub 
ject  of  complaint.  But  what  most  affected  pope  Cle 
ment,  was  the  rumour  concerning  Anne  Boleyn,  whom 
Henry  publicly  entertained,  as  if  he  designed  to  make 
her  his  wife.  This  occasioned  his  holiness  to  write  se 
veral  letters  to  him,  filled  both  w7ith  admonitions  and 
threats.  In  one  of  these  letters,  dated  November  15, 
1 532,  after  having  complained  of  his  majesty's  coldness 
towards  the  see  of  Rome,  for  the  four  years  last  past,  who 
formerly  had  discovered  so  much  zeal  for  it,  both  by  his 
pen  and  his  sword,  he  mentions  to  him  what  was  re 
ported,  concerning  Anne  Boleyn,  yet  hoped  the  report 
was  false ;  but,  in  case  he  had  abandoned  his  queen,  and 
entertained  that  lady,  it  was  a  fact  that  would  have  very 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  217 

dismal  consequences.  It  would  scandalize  the  church, 
exasperate  all  the  queen's  relations,  put  all  Europe  in  a 
combustion,  and  then  both  Turks  and  heretics  would 
make  a  hand  of  the  confusion  Wherefore,  he  adviseth 
him,  if  the  report  was  true,  to  recall  queen  Catherine, 
and  forthwith  cause  Anne  Boleyn  to  be  dismissed  ; 
otherwise,  he  should  be  obliged  to  make  use  of  his  power, 
and  let  loose  the  censures  of  the  church  :  in  fine,  as  he 
had  written  to  him.  before,  to  the  same  purpose,  so  he 
hoped  his  majesty  would  stand  in  need  of  no  farther  ad 
monition.1  But  you  have  heard  of  the  success  of  these 
letters,  by  what  was  concluded  at  Duns  table. 

When  Clement  VII.  was  fully  informed  that  king 
Henry  had  actually  married  Anne  Boleyn,  he  thought  it 
high  time  to  take  notice  of  it,  in  the  manner  that  be 
came  his  place  and  dignity.  Wherefore,  he  immediately 
threatens  all  those  with  -  excommunication,  who  were 
concerned  in  that  uncanonical  proceeding,  with  an  ex 
press  order,  that  the  parties  should  separate,  and  make 
their  appearance  at  Rome,  within  such  a  time ;  and 
then  gave  directions  to  the  officers  of  the  consistorial 
court,  to  proceed  to  a  decree,  about  the  divorce,  which 
^hitherto  had  been  suspended,  at  the  entreaty  of  several 
princes,  who  apprehended  the  consequences  of  a  hasty 
determination.2  Meantime,  king  Henry  was  not  with 
out  fear  ;  and,  had  the  powers  of  Europe,  whose  interest 
was  concerned  in  this  bold  attempt,  resented  it  as  they 
might  have  done,  it  might  have  proved  as  fatal  to  the 
crown  of  England,  as  it  was  to  their  church,  which, 
under  a  pretence  of  liberty,  has  ever  since  been  sub- 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  XXXIII.  [Clement  had  written  a  previous  letter,  to  the 
same  effect,  in  January,  which  is  recited  in  the  present  address. —  T.~] 

2  [This  conveys  an  idea  of  anger  and  precipitation,  on  the  part  of  Clement, 
which  is  not  correct.     Though  daily  importuned  by  the  imperialists,  to  assert 
his  authority,  and  avenge  the  insult  offered  to  the  papal  chair,  it  was  not  until 
July,  that  he  couldbe  prevailedon,  to  take  any  steps  in  the  business;  and  then  he 
merely  signed  a  breve,  annulling  the  proceedings  before  Cranmer,on  the  ground 
that  the  cause  was  still  pending  before  himself,and  excommunicating  Henry  and 
Anne,  unless  they  should  separate,  before  the  end  of  September.  In  September, 
he  farther  prolonged  the  term  until  the  end  of  the  following  month  (Herb.  385, 
38H;  Le  Grand,  iii,  570 ;  Burnet,  i.  128,  129).  The  breve  is  in  Sanders  (p.  101), 
and  in  the  Summa  Coustitutionum  (276),  but,  in  both  places,  is,  by  mistake, 
called  a  definitive  sentence,  in  favour  of  Henry's  marriage  with  Catherine. — T.~\ 


218  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

jected  to  the  lay  power,  even  as  to  all  the  essentials  of 
the  sacerdotal  character.  Wherefore,  to  prevent  any 
mischief  that  might  happen  to  the  civil  government, 
from  this  revolution  in  church  affairs,  Henry  tampers 
with  Francis  I.,  king  of  France,  to  stand  by  him,  and 
endeavours  to  set  him  at  variance  with  the  pope  ;  and, 
in  order  to  this,  he  labours  to  hinder  the  interview, 
which  was  to  be  at  Marseilles,  between  pope  Clement 
and  the  French  king,  and  where  king  Henry  himself 
had  engaged  to  appear,  either  personally,  or  by  his  am 
bassadors  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  duke  of  Norfolk  was 
AUG.  sent  thither,  but  recalled  upon  the  consideration 

8-  now  mentioned.1  However,  the  king  of  England 
was  prevailed  upon,  by  Francis,  to  suffer  his  agents  to 
take  a  journey  to  Marseilles,  not  without  some  hopes  of 
a  reconciliation.  The  persons  employed  upon  this  occa 
sion  were  Dr.  Stephen  Gardiner,  and  sir  Francis  Bryan  ; 
the  first  an  eminent  civilian,  and  subtle  politician,  the 
other  a  great  favourite  with  king  Henry,  and  a  constant 
companion  in  his  pleasures.  Their  commission  was, 
among  other  things,  to  appeal  to  a  general  council, 
which  his  holiness  thought  wras  only  a  subterfuge  and 
mere  evasion  ;  as,  indeed,  it  plainly  appeared  soon  after 
wards,  when  the  pope  having  intimated  his  intention  of 
calling  a  general  council,  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
emperor,  and  the  rest  of  the  princes  of  Europe,  king 
Henry  drew  back,  and  published  two  declarations,  in 
order  to  justify  his  non-appearance,  as  may  be  seen  in 
John  Fox.2  And,  indeed,  it  was  not  his  interest  to  ex 
pose  himself  and  his  cause  upon  that  occasion,  where 
he  was  satisfied  no  regard  would  be  had  to  his  threats. 

While  the  congress  was  held  at  Marseilles,  Gardiner 

1  Herbert,  384,  386,  387.  [Norfolk's  instructions  were,  to  dissuade  Francis 
from  the  interview,  and  to  promise  him  assistance  for  the  war  in  Piedmont,  on 
condition  that  he  would  prohibit  the  payment  of  any  money,  by  his  subjects,  to 
the  papal  treasury,  and  would  abolish  the  authority  of  the  pope,  by  establish 
ing-  a  patriarch  within  his  own  dominions.  Ibid  386. — T.~\ 

2  ii.  310,  367,  edit.  1684.  [Gardiner  and  Bryan  had  no  commission :  but  they 
were  followed  by  Bonner,  who,  on  the  7th  of  November,  obtained  an  audience 
of  Clement,  and,  in  the  name  of  his  master,  solemnly  made  the  appeal.     See 
Burnet,  iii.  75,  82—86,  and  Rec.  p.  37—46 ;  Herb.  389  ;  and  Du  Bellay's  in 
structions,  apudlc  Grand,  iii.  571 — 588. — T.~] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  219 

and  Bryan  carried  themselves  so  indecently,  in  regard 
of  pope  Clement,  that  the  king  of  France  was  very  much 
scandalized  at  them,  and  told  them  plainly,  that,  though 
he  had  been  all  along  a  friend  to  their  master,  and  had 
omitted  nothing  that  might  contribute  towards  further 
ing  the  divorce,  yet  he  would  not  favour  him,  in  any 
thing  that  tended  towards  disobeying  the  see  of  Rome, 
in  matters  of  religion.1  However,  he  was  always  ready 
to  make  up  all  differences  between  their  master  and  his 
holiness  ;  and,  accordingly,  he  used  his  endeavours.  NOV. 
For  the  interview  at  Marseilles  being  ended,  Du  8 
Bellay,  bishop  of  Paris,  was  sent  ambassador  into  Eng 
land,  where  he  complained  of  the  behaviour  of  the  king's 
agents  at  Marseilles,  who,  by  their  indiscreet  and  passion 
ate  speeches,  seemed  disposed  rather  to  widen,  than 
make  up,  the  breach.  At  the  same  time,  he  assured 
the  king,  that,  if  his  majesty  was  inclined  to  come  to  an 
agreement  with  the  see  of  Rome,  let  him  consider  of 
proposals,  and  he  would  carry  them  himself  to  Rome, 
though  the  time  was  unseasonable,  it  being  now  the 
middle  of  winter.2  Accordingly,  the  king  gives  his  con 
sent  to  the  journey.  When  Du  Bellay  arrived  at 
Rome,  he  found  the  emperor's  party  urging  the 
pope  daily  for  a  speedy  decision ;  but  the  French  am 
bassador  laboured  for  a  delay  ;  and,  having  acquainted 
his  holiness  with  some  general  heads  towards  an  accom 
modation,  Du  Bellay  only  desired  a  respite  of  time,  till 
a  messenger  could  return  with  an  answer  from  England. 
The  time  allotted  for  the  king's  answer  being  expired, 
Du  Bellay,  apprehending  the  court  would  immediately 
come  to  a  resolution,  petitioned  for  six  days'  more  res 
pite.  But,  whether  through  the  emperor's  importunity, 
or  the  opinion  the  pope  had  of  king  Henry's  insincerity, 
(to  which  may  be  added,  a  general  report  all  over  Rome, 
that  the  pope  and  cardinals  were  daily  lampooned,  and 
ridiculed  publicly,  in  London,  in  plays  and  farces),  the 
decree  passed  in  the  consistory,  and  was  signed  by  his 
holiness,  March  23,  1534,  whereby  the  marriage  be- 

1  Sanders,  100.  ~  Le  Grand,  i.  270,  271,  iii.  571—588. 


220  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

tween  king  Henry  and  queen  Catherine  was  declared 
valid;  and  Cranmer's  sentence  annulled.  It  is  reported, 
that,  two  days  after  the  pope  had  signed  the  decree,  Du 
Bellay's  messenger  arrived  from  England  with  king 
Henry's  submission,  upon  certain  terms,  together  with 
a  letter  from  the  king  of  France,  desiring  his  holiness  to 
accept  of  them.  The  terms  of  this  pretended  submission 
were,  that  his  holiness  would  not  proceed  to  ecclesiasti 
cal  censures,  so  as  to  remove  his  majesty  from  the  com 
munion  of  the  faithful ;  that  persons  exasperated,  or  sus 
pected  to  be  against  him,  might  not  be  permitted  to 
speak  in  the  cause  ;  and  lastly,  that  his  own  agents  and 
managers  might  have  the  liberty  to  be  heard,  and  pro 
duce  what  they  could  in  his  defence.  Now,  how  far  the 
king  was  sincere  in  these  demands,  or  whether  or  no 
they  were  consistent  with  the  methods  and  authority 
claimed  by  the  consistorial  court,  I  leave  others  to  judge  ; 
in  the  meantime,  it  appears  to  me,  that  what  the  king 
required  was  entangling  the  cause,  and  making  it  end 
less.1 

Dr.  Burnet,  from  what  records  I  cannot  tell,  gives  an 
account,  that  the  more  moderate  cardinals  came  to  the 
pope,  after  the  cause  was  decided,  and  requested  that  it 
might  be  brought  again  into  the  consistory  ;  which  he 
allowed  of;  but  the  imperialists  so  managed  matters, 
that  the  former  decree  was  confirmed.2  Whether  such 
rehearings  are  in  use  in  that  court,  or  whether  it  be  pro 
bable  that  the  court  would  go  a  second  time  upon  that 
case,  which  they  had  but  just  before  determined,  is 
scarce  a  subject  of  enquiry  :  such  reports  ought  to  be 
well  grounded,  before  they  can  obtain  credit.  Much 
more  unlikely  it  is  what  Echard  relates  to  have  happened, 
at  the  congress,  at  Marseilles.  He  tells  us,  that  the 
pope  agreed  with  the  king  of  France,  that,  in  case  king 

1  Mem.  du  Bellay,  414—416;  Le  Grand,  iii.  630— 638 ;  Fra  Paolo,  Hist. 
Cone.  Trid.  71.  edit.  Genev.  1660;  Burnet,  i.  131,  iii.  84—88.  The  decree 
will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XXXIV.  [Of  Henry's  sincerity,  even  Bur- 
net,  remarking  on  the  measures  already  adopted  in  England,  makes  this  acknow- 
Idgement;  "  if  king  Henry's  word  had  been  taken  by  the  pope  and  the  consistory, 
he  seems  to  have  put  it  out  of  his  power  to  have  made  it  good."  iii.  92. —  T.~\ 
.  2  Burnet,  i.  131.  [Herbert  had  previously  asserted  the  same,  p.  397. — 71.] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE  221 

Henry  would  give  up  all  those  privileges,  which  he  had 
of  late  taken  from  the  see  of  Rome,  the  decree  passed 
in  England,  in  favour  of  the  divorce,  should  be  allowed 
of,  and  confirmed.1  The  king  certainly  would  have 
made  an  advantage  of  this  concession,  and  we  should 
have  heard  a  great  deal  more  of  it.  Doubtless,  the  pope 
had  several  politic  considerations,  as  well  as  those  of  re 
ligion,  not  to  comply  with  king  Henry ;  but,  to  make  a 
declaration,  that  he  kept  off  merely  upon  a  temporal 
view,  is  a  mismanagement  that  discerning  pope  can 
never  be  thought  guilty  of. 

Several  writers,  who  judge  of  matters  chiefly  from 
events,  take  the  liberty  to  charge  pope  Clement  with 
imprudence  and  precipitation,  in  that  he  did  not  wait  a 
little  longer,  till  Du  Bellay's  messenger  returned  from 
England;  to  which  they  add,  that,  queen  Catherine 
dying  about  twenty-one  months'  after  the  decree,  had  it 
been  suspended  till  that  time,  matters  might  have  been 
compromised  to  the  king's  satisfaction.  But  how  could 
the  pope  foresee  what  wrould  come  to  pass  ?  Or  pry 
into  those  secrets,  which  were  only  known  to  the  Al 
mighty  ?  I  leave  cardinal  Palavicini  to  make  an  apo 
logy  for  his  holiness,  as  to  what  concerns  the  prudential 
part,2  and  shall  only  mention  what  a  certain  author  ob 
serves,  from  St.  Augustin,  that  the  prelates  of  the  church 
ought  to  be  cautious  in  their  censures,  where  there  is 
danger  of  schism.3  That  Clement  VII.  usurped  not  a 
a  power  which  did  not  belong  to  him,  and  that  he  of 
fended  not  against  justice,  in  the  sentence  he  pronounced 
against  Henry  VIII.,  all  must  acknowledge,  who  own 
his  supremacy  in  matters  of  religion.4 


1  Echard,  i.  676.  [Something  similar  was  asserted  by  the  bishop  of  Durham, 
in  his  interview  with  Catherine,  in  May,  1534.  Apud  Herb.  4C3. — T.~\ 

2  Eventus  effecit,  ut  nimiae  festinationis  in  ferenda  sententia  pontifex  incu- 
saretur  ab  iis  ipsis,qui  paulo  ante  seu  imbecillum  illius  animum,  seu  calidum  in 
prorogandojudicio,  damnabant:  neque  seeum  reputabant,  vel  oportuisse  per- 
petuo  causa  supersedere,  hoc  est,  nihilunquam  agere,  vel  quandocumque  tandem 
Iis  dijudicaretur,  potuisse  statim  aliquid  contingere,  cujusne  suspicio  quidem 
cordato  viro  prius  incidisset.  Palavic.  lib.  3.  cap.  15,  p.  287,  288. 

3  Cum  quisque  fratrum anathemate  dignus  habeatur,  fiat  hoc,  ubi 

periculum  schismatis  nullum  est.     S.  Aug.  Cont.  Parmen.  lib.  3.  c.  2. 

4  [On  the  whole  of  this  subject,  see  Dr.  Lingard,  iv.  202,  note.    Burnct  h 


222  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

What  politic  methods  king  Henry  afterwards  made 
use  of,  to  secure  himself  against  those,  that  were  dis 
posed  to  call  him  to  an  account  for  the  injury  done  to 
them  by  this  project  of  the  divorce,  and  what  alliances 
he  made,  in  order  to  defend  himself,  may  be  seen  both 
in  our  own  and  foreign  historians,  to  whom  I  remit  the 
reader.  I  shall  only  observe,  how  he  endeavoured  to 
pacify  the  emperor,  who  was  the  person  chiefly  affronted, 
and  w^hat  arguments  he  made  use  of,  to  palliate  the  mat 
ter.  He  took  the  first  opportunity  to  send  an  ambas 
sador  to  the  imperial  court,  who,  in  a  set,  formal  speech, 
undertook  to  justify  what  his  master  had  done,  in  the 
affair  of  the  divorce.  The  substance  of  his  harangue 
was,  that  his  master  had  done  a  great  deal  more  than 
what  he  was  strictly  obliged  to :  that  he  might  have 
contented  himself  with  the  opinion  of  his  own  divines  ; 
but,  for  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  world,  had  ad 
vised  with  many  foreign  universities,  wrhose  approbation 
he  had  obtained :  besides,  that  his  master,  king  Henry, 
was  a  person  of  great  learning,  and  very  capable  of  judg 
ing  of  the  nature  of  the  controversy ;  that  the  emperor 
ought  not  to  take  it  ill  what  was  done,  since  it  was 
merely  to  purchase  ease  to  a  scrupulous  conscience ; 
that,  indeed,  he  had  made  interest  at  several  courts,  as 
at  Rome  and  Paris,  arid  even  writh  the  emperor  himself, 
to  have  his  design  take  effect :  but  it  was  no  more  than 
a  compliment ;  for  it  was  his  opinion,  that  he  might,  in 
the  beginning,  have  done  the  thing  by  his  own  autho 
rity,  as  he  now  actually  had  done.  Then  he  complains, 
that  the  pope  had  juggled  all  along  with  his  master,  first 
by  a  fraudulent  bull,  and  then  by  studied  and  affected 
delays,  for  the  space  of  near  seven  years ;  that,  to  be 
short,  the  affair  belonged  to  the  archbishop  of  Canter 
bury,  and  the  rest  of  the  English  prelates,  who  had 
done  his  master  justice.  And  then  he  concludes,  that 
all  debates  ought  to  have  an  end  ;  making  use  of  these 

previously  remarked  (iii.  92),  that  the  parliament,  which  abolished  the  power 
of  the  pope,  within  the  realm,  had  not  only  completed  that  measure,  but  had 
actually  been  prorogued  before  the  proceedings  at  Rome  could  possibly  have 
been  known  in  England.  How  then  could  the  news  of  the  decree  in  question 
have  produced  an  event,  which  had  already  occurred  ? — 71] 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  223 

words  by  way  of  close,  Si  possis,  recte :  si  non  possis, 
quocumque  modo.1 

Had  king  Henry  stopped  here,  there  might  have  been 
some  hopes  of  a  reconciliation  ;  but  he  could  not  secure 
himself,  without  making  a  farther  conquest.  In  the 
next  place,  therefore,  he  takes  care  to  call  a  parliament, 
and  to  have  his  marriage  confirmed  by  statute,  so  that 
there  might  be  no  defect  in  law,  in  case  he  had  children.2 
Farther,  as  he  had  already  assumed  the  title  of  head  of 
the  church,  so  he  improved  it  to  a  spiritual  supremacy, 
and  it  was  confirmed  to  him  by  act  of  parliament,  which 
imported,  that  he  was  the  fountain  of  all  jurisdiction, 

1  The  speech  is  in  Foxe,  ii,  299.     [The  death  of  Catherine,  which  happened 
in  1 536,  and  of  which  an  account  will  be  given  in  the  biographical  part  of  this 
work,  presented  a  more  favourable  opportunity,  which  was  eagerly  turned  to 
advantage  by  Henry,  of  seeking  a  reconciliation  with  the  emperor.     On  the  day 
after  that  event,  Cromwell  wrote  a  short  letter  to  the  ambassadors  in  France, 
merely  announcing  "  the  departure  of  the  princesse  douagier,"  and  desiring 
them  to  make  such  use  of  the  intelligence,  as  they  might  deem  prudent.     In  a 
long  postscript,  however,  he  adds  :  "  The  king's  highnes  having  seen  this  lettre, 
willed  me,  for  your  more  ample  instruction,  to  wryte  unto  you  somwhat  at 

more  length.      Albeit  his  highnes  doubteth  not  your  wisedom yet  his 

highnes  thought  good  somwhat  to  advertise  you  of  his  gracious  pleasure,  in  this 
parte,  which  is,  that,  considering  uppon  the  deth  now  of  the  saide  lady  doua 
gier,  whereby  themperor,  having  none  other  cawse  or  querele  to  the  king's 
highnes,  will,  of  grete  lightlywod,  by  all  weyes  and  meanes,  seke  for  the  king's 
highnes  amytie,  being  the  onelie  matier  of  the  unkyndenes  betwixt  them  now 
abolished  by  the  deth  of  the  saide  lady,  ye,  therefore,  in  your  conferences  and 
procedyngs  with  the  Frensh  kyng  and  his  counsaile,  shall  not  onelie  kepe  your 
selffe  the  more  aloof,  and  be  the  more  ffroyt  and  coldein  relentyng  to  any  their 
overtures  or  requests,  but  also  by  suche  polycies,  as  by  your  discrete  wisedomes 
shall  seme  most  expedient  to  set  fourth  this  matier ;  so  as  it  may  appere  unto 
them  what  ffruyte  the  kings  highnes  may  now  have  at  themperors  hand,  if  he 
woll ;  who  now,  ye  may  sey,  will  offer  as  well  gret  pleasures  and  benefits  to 
the  kings  highnes,  to  atteyn  amytie,  as  he  did  unto  them  domynyons  or  posses 
sions  ;  sayeng  unto  thadmyrall,  it  shalbe  good  for  them,  if  they  will  com  to 
any  conformytie  in  this  treatie,  to  accelerate  the  same,  before  the  kyngs  highnes 
be  overmoche  sought  or  pressed  by  themperour.     Which  matier  being  handeled 
and  proponed  by  you,  after  such  sorte,  and  with  such  other  reasons  and  argu 
ments,  as  the  kyngs  highnes  doubtith  not  ye  right  wisely  can,  shalbe  a  meane 
to  cause  them  the  more  facilly  to  com  to  such  poynt,  as  shalbe  agreable  to  the 
kings  highnes  expectacion,  and  the  better  conducing  of  his  gracious  affaires." 
Original,  in  my  possession. —  T.~\ 

2  [By  this  act  it  was  farther  declared,  that  any  person,  slandering  the  mar 
riage,  or  seeking  to  prejudice  its  issue,  whether  bywords,  writing,  print,  or  deed, 
should  be  guilty  either  of  treason,  or  of  misprision  of  treason,  as  the  case  might 
be ;  and  that  all  persons  of  full  age  should  be  bound,  when  called  on  by  the 
crown,  to  take  an  oath  of  obedience  to  the  statute,  under  the  penalty  of  mis- 

Srision  of  treason  (Stat.  25  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  22).     The  oath,  thus  required,  was 
rawn  up  in  the  following    session,    and  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix, 
No.  XXXV.— 71] 


224  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

both  temporal  and  spiritual,  and  that  all  errors,  heresies, 
&c.  were  to  be  examined  and  redressed  by  him.  An 
oath  was  also  imposed,  to  the  same  purpose,  whereby 
his  subjects  were  obliged  to  disclaim  all  foreign  spiritual 
jurisdiction,  upon  the  penalty  of  high  treason  ;  and  se 
veral  eminent  persons,  that  refused  to  comply,  were 
condemned  and  executed.  Afterwards,  it  was  repre 
sented  to  him,  that  it  was  impossible  to  enjoy  his  su 
premacy  in  quiet,  unless  he  did  something,  in  order  to 
keep  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  under.  He  had  already 
humbled  the  bishops  and  clergy,  by  making  them  sub 
mit  to  the  penalties  of  a  premunire  ;  but  the  monks  were 
a  rich  and  powerful  body,  and,  being  esteemed  creatures 
of  the  pope,  notwithstanding  the  oath  they  had  taken  to 
the  king,  were  in  a  capacity  of  giving  him  a  great  deal 
of  disturbance.  This  consideration  put  him  upon  the 
project  of  seizing  the  monastic  lands.  These  things  I 
only  mention  in  general,  at  present,  the  particulars 
whereof  shall  be  given  in  the  two  next  articles. 

But  to  come  towards  a  conclusion  of  this  grand  con 
troversy.  Pope  Clement  VII.,  dying,  September  25, 
1534,  he  lived  not,  to  execute  any  censures  against 
king  Henry.  So  that,  "  instead  of  putting  the  matter 
past  reconciliation,  there  was  only  a  sentence  given,  an 
nulling  all  that  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  had  done."1 
Afterwards,  Paul  III.,  Clement's  successor,  finding  him 
self  obliged  to  take  notice  of  the  sacrilegious  be 
haviour,  and  cruelties,  whereby  the  church  was 
daily  more  and  more  scandalized,  orders  a  sentence  of 
excommunication,,  interdiction,  &c.  to  be  drawn  up 
against  the  king,  and  his  whole  kingdom,  dated  August 
30,  1535,  which,  notwithstanding,  was  not  published, 
nor  of  any  force  till  above  three  years  after,  viz.  Decem 
ber  17,  1538,  so  that  the  see  of  Rome  did  not  proceed 
with  precipitation.  "  It  had,  all  this  time,  been  sus 
pended,  till  the  suppression  of  monasteries,  and  the  ru 
mour  of  burning  of  Becket's  bones,  did  so  inflame  the 
pope,  that  he  resolved  upon  the  utmost  extremities.  There- 

1  Echard,  i.  676. 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  225 

fore,  this  year  he  published  the  bull,  which  he  declared 
he  had  long  suspended,  at  the  intercession  of  some 
princes,  who  hoped  that  king  Henry  might  have  been 
reclaimed  by  gentler  methods ;  and,  therefore,  since  his 
impieties  daily  increased,  he  was  compelled  to  proceed 
to  his  highest  censures."1 

It  only  remains,  that,  for  the  satisfaction  of  readers, 
who  desire  to  have  some  insight  into  the  merits  of  the 
cause,  I  sum  up  the  arguments,  as  they  were  urged  on 
both  sides,  in  relation  to  the  question  of  right,  which 
was  scarce  touched  upon  in  court :  the  validity  of  the 
dispensation  being  the  main  point  there  debated.  The 
general  query  was,  whether  the  Levitical  law,  which 
prohibited  the  taking  of  a  brother's  wife,  was  natural, 
or  only  ceremonial ;  for  it  was  agreed  on  both  sides, 
that  it  was  not  in  the  pope's  power  to  dispense  with  the 
law  of  nature.  The  learned  either  were,  or  seemed  to 
be,  divided  on  the  subject.  But  those,  that  appeared 
in  print  for  the  queen,  were  far  superior  to  the  others  in 


1  Ibid.  696,697.  [The  bull  is  printed  in  the  Bullarium  (i.  704),  in  the  Summa 
Constitution um  (292),  and  in  Burnet  (i.  Rec.  p.  156).  It  has  been  abridged  by 
Sanders  (131),  and  recently,  by  Dr.  Lingard,  in  his  history.  As  the  document 
itself  is  of  great  length,  I  subjoin  Dr.  Lingard's  abstract.  "  In  this  extraordinary 
instrument,"  says  the  historian,  "  in  which  care  was  taken  to  embody  every  pro 
hibitory  and  vindictive  clause,  invented  by  the  most  aspiring  of  his  predecessors, 
the  pontiff,  having  first  enumerated  the  offences  of  the  king  against  the  apostolic 
see,  allows  him  ninety,  his  fautors  and  abettors  sixty,  days  to  repent,  and  appear  at 
Rome  in  person  or  by  attorney ;  and  then,  in  case  of  default,  pronounces  him 
and  them  excommunicated,  deprives  him  of  his  crown,  declares  his  children  by 
Anne,  and  their  children  by  their  legitimate  wives,  incapable  of  inheriting  for 
several  generations,  interdicts  his  and  their  lands  and  possessions,  requires  all 
clerical  and  monastic  bodies  to  retire  out  of  Henry's  territories,  absolves  his 
subjects  and  their  tenants  from  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  fidelity,  commands 
them  to  take  up  arms  against  their  former  sovereign  and  lords,  dissolves  all 
treaties  and  alliances  between  Henry  and  other  powers,  as  far  as  they  may  be 
contradictory  to  this  sentence,  forbids  all  foreign  nations  to  trade  with  his  domi 
nions,  and  exhorts  them  to  capture  the  goods,  and  make  prisoners  of  the 
persons,  of  all  such  as  still  adhere  to  him  in  his  schism  and  rebellion'' 
(iv.  222,  223). 

Such  was  the  substance  of  the  bull,  when  originally  drawn  up,  in  1535: 
when  ordered  to  be  published,  three  years  later,  it  was  accompanied  by  an  addi 
tional  clause,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XXXVI.  I  may  add, 
that,  though  it  was  not  published,  in  1535,  both  its  existence  and  its  purport 
were  known  to  Henry,  who  not  only  makes  it  the  subject  of  his  complaints,  in 
almost  all  his  despatches,  but  also  appeals  to  it,  as  a  reason  for  inducing  the 
French  monarch  to  unite  with  him,  in  rejecting  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
see.  See  Appendix,  No,  XXXVII.— T.] 

VOL.  I,  Q 


226  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

number,  and,  according  to  the  character  they  had  in  the 
world,  much  more  superior  to  them  in  learning.  Those 
of  the  queen's  party,  that  occur  to  me,  at  present,  were 
Bp.Fisher,  Bp.  Tunstal,  Dr.  Holyman,  Dr.  Clark,  Dr.  Rid 
ley,  Dr.  Powel,  Dr.  Abel,  Dr.  Featherston,  Dr.  West, 
&c.,  all  English  divines,  who  wrote  against  the  divorce, 
and  were  supported  by  a  great  number  of  foreigners, 
some  whereof  were  Italian  divines,  viz.,  Thomas Cajetan, 
cardinal,  Petrus  Paulus  Caperella,  Sepulveda,  Nugorola; 
others  Spaniards,  viz.,  Franciscus  Royas,  Alphonsus 
Vervez,  Alphonsus  de  Castro,  Alvarez  Gametius ;  and, 
of  the  French,  were,  Eguinarus  Baro,  Duarenus,  and 
Conranus ;  also  Joannes  Cochlaeus,  a  German,  and  Lu- 
dovicus  a  Schora,  a  Fleming.  On  the  other  side,  the 
chief,  that  published  any  writings,  were,  Cranmer. 
Wakefield,  and  Sir  Richard  Morison.  I  do  not  find 
that  the  learned  men,  that  subscribed  for  the  divorce  in 
foreign  universities,  were  very  solicitous  about  writing 
upon  the  subject ;  for  there  are  grounds  to  think,  that 
they  were  drawn  in  by  fraud  and  bribery,  and  that  they 
were  not  of  a  different  opinion  from  the  see  of  Rome, 
when  the  case  was  truly  stated,  or,  at  least,  they  were 
convinced  of  their  mistake  soon  after.  I  will  repeat  the 
arguments  of  both  parties,  as  they  are  collected  and 
summed  up  by  an  ingenious  hand,  who  has  an  excellent 
faculty  in  making  abridgments.1 

Those  on  the  king's  party  alleged,  "  That  the  laws  of 
Moses,  which  concerned  marriage,  were  not  particular 
to  the  Jews,  but  were  for  all  times  and  all  nations ;  that 
they  are  grounded  upon  natural  decency  ;  that  God  calls 
the  breaches  of  those  laws  wickednesses  and  abomina 
tions,  and  threatens  the  most  severe  punishments  to  such 
as  will  not  observe  them ;  that  the  sins,  for  which  the 
Canaanites  were  rooted  out  of  their  own  land,  were 
these  ;  that  they  were  defiled  with  these  impurities ;  that 
the  prohibition  to  marry  the  brother's  wife  was  not  less 
strict,  than  that  of  marrying  within  the  other  degrees  of 
consanguinity  and  affinity,  set  down  in  Leviticus  ;  that 

1  Dupin,  Eccl.  Hist.  Cent.  XVI.  B.  2,  c.  26,  p.  143—145, 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  227 

that  law  was  never  repealed,  or  explained  by  Jesus 
Christ,  or  his  apostles,  but,  on  the  contrary,  St.  John 
Baptist  had  sharply  reproved  Herod  for  marrying  his 
brother's  wife;  that  the  apostle  St.  Paul  had  shown  how 
detestable  such  monstrous  conjunctions  were,  under  the 
gospel,  by  condemning  the  incestuous  Corinthian,  who 
had  married  his  father's  wife,  so  severely,  as  an  action 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature,  acknowledged  and  prac 
tised  even  by  the  heathens  ;  that  the  first  Christians  had 
ever  accounted  the  laws  of  Leviticus  to  be  inviolable ; 
that  Tertullian,  Origen,  St.  Basil,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Chry- 
sostom,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augustin,  and  Hesychius,  had 
severely  condemned  the  marriage  of  a  man  with  his 
brother's  wife,  and  affirmed,  that  this  prohibition  was 
not  particular  to  the  Jews,  but  general  to  all  mankind ; 
that  the  council  of  Neocsesarea  excommunicated  every 
man  who  married  his  wife's  sister,  and  the  woman  that 
should  marry  two  brothers,  and  the  same  canon  was 
reinforced  by  a  council,  held  under  Gregory  II.  ;  that, 
in  all  the  councils  which  have  taken  notice  of  the  degrees 
of  affinity,  within  which  it  is  not  lawful  to  contract  mar 
riage,  this  of  the  brother  arid  sister-in-law  is  put  among 
them ;  that  the  pope  St.  Gregory,  being  consulted  by 
Augustin,  the  monk,  whom  he  sent  into  England,  whe 
ther  it  was  lawful  for  a  man  to  marry  his  brother's 
widow,  answered,  that  this  sort  of  marriages  was  for 
bidden,  and  if  any  persons,  who  were  lately  converted, 
had  contracted  any  such  before  their  conversion,  they 
ought  to  be  advised  not  to  associate  with  their  wives  ; 
that  there  never  was  a  more  favourable  occasion  to  dis 
pense  with  such  marriages  than  this,  if  the  church  had 
had  power ;  that  other  popes,  as,  Calixtus,  Zacharias, 
and  Innocent  III.,  had  positively  declared  against  such 
sort  of  marriages,  grounded  upon  the  prohibition  of 
Leviticus,  as  upon  a  perpetual  law.  Lastly,  they  quoted 
a  great  number  of  school-men  and  canonists,  who  had 
taught,  that  all  contracts  of  marriage  within  the  degrees 
forbidden  in  Leviticus  are  void.  And  they  added,  that 
one  of  the  errors,  condemned  in  Wycliffe,  was,  that  the 
law  of  God  did  not  forbid  this  sort  of  marriages.  But, 

Q  2 


228  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  f. 

because  there  might  be  a  distinction  between  a  marriage 
consummated,  and  that  which  was  not,  and  because  it 
was  asserted,  that  the  marriage  between  Catherine  and 
Arthur  was  not  consummated,  or,  at  least,  that,  if  it  was 
uncertain  whether  it  was  or  not,  there  was  some  reason 
to  doubt  whether,  in  that  case,  the  marriage  of  the  bro 
ther's  widow  was  equally  forbidden,  they  add,  that  the 
validity  and  accomplishment  of  a  marriage  did  not  ne 
cessarily  depend  upon  its  consummation,  but  upon  the 
mutual  consent  of  the  man  and  the  woman  ;  and  for  this 
reason  it  was,  that  Adonijah  could  not  marry  Abishag, 
because  she  had  been  his  father  David's  wife,  though  he 
never  knew  her ;  and  upon  this  account  it  is  also,  that, 
by  the  law  of  Moses,  if  a  damsel,  betrothed  to  a  man, 
abandoned  herself  to  another,  she  was  to  be  stoned  for 
an  adulteress ;  and  it  is  on  this  ground  that  it  was  held, 
that  there  was  a  true  marriage  between  Joseph  and  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  and  that  Adam  and  Eve  were  man  and 
wife,  before  they  had  carnal  knowledge  of  each  other ; 
that  the  councils,  fathers,  and  divines,  make  the  essence 
of  marriage  to  consist  in  the  contract,  and  in  the  sacra 
ment  ;  that  the  most  judicious  of  the  canonists  are  of 
the  same  opinion  ;  and,  in  short,  that  the  consummation 
of  the  marriage  of  Catherine  and  Arthur  was  as  cer 
tainly  proved,  as  a  fact  of  that  sort  could  possibly  be."1 
On  the  other  hand,  writers  of  the  queen's  party  main 
tained,  "  that  the  prohibition  in  Leviticus,  to  marry  the 
brother's  wife,  was  not  a  law  of  nature,  but  only  a  posi 
tive  law ;  that  Moses  had  sufficiently  showed  that,  by 
commanding,  in  Deuteronomy,  the  brother  to  marry  his 


1  The  proofs  of  non-consummation  were  much  stronger ;  her  assertion  alone, 
considering  her  virtuous  character,  was  a  sufficient  proof.  Several  of  our  his 
torians  are  inclined  to  be  of  the  same  opinion. 

"  But  whether  bedded  or  not,  more  than  as  to  some  old  formalities  of  court, 
on  the  like  occasions,  was  not  commonly  known."  Heylin,  171. 

"  The  most  pungent  passage  in  her  speech  was,  her  appeal  to  the  king's 
conscience,  that  he  found  her  a  virgin  when  first  coming  to  her  bed Be 
cause  she  saying  it,  and  the  king  not  gainsaying  it,  many  interpreted  his  silence 
herein  consent."  Fuller,  B.  5,  p.  173. 

"  Though  the  bride  was  a  widow,  she  was  attired  all  in  white,  to  express  her 
untouched  virginity."  Echard,  i.  622. 


ART.  ii.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  229 

brother's  widow,  when  he  died  without  children,  demon 
strating,  by  this  exception,  that  that  law  might  be  dis 
pensed  with,  and  consequently  wras  not  a  law  of  nature; 
that,  before  Moses,  that  law  was  of  no  force,  because 
Jacob  married  Leah  and  Rachel,  two  sisters  ;  and 
Judah,  after  he  had  married  two  of  his  sons  to  Thamar, 
promised  her  the  third ;  that  it  was  not  said,  that  the 
Canaanites  were  punished  particularly  for  not  observing 
this  prohibition,  but,  in  general,  for  all  the  abomina 
tions  that  they  had  committed ;  that,  in  the  New  Testa 
ment,  Jesus  Christ  approved  of  the  exception  in  Deu 
teronomy,  in  his  answer  to  the  Sadducees  who  had  pro 
posed  that  law  to  him ;  that  St.  John  Baptist  had 
reproved  Herod  for  marrying  his  brother's  wife,  either 
because  his  brother  was  yet  living,  or  because,  if  he  was 
dead,  he  left  children ;  that  the  example  of  the  inces 
tuous  Corinthian  made  nothing  to  the  question  in  hand, 
because  he  did  not  marry  his  wife's  sister,  but  his  mother- 
in-law  ;  that,  though  it  was  always  forbidden  in  the 
church  to  marry  the  sister-in-law,  yet  it  was  not  looked 
upon  as  forbidden  by  any  law  of  nature ;  that  the 
Fathers  always  looked  upon  the  law  in  Deuteronomy  as 
an  exception  to  that  in  Leviticus ;  that,  in  the  ancient 
apostolic  canons,  he  that  married  two  sisters,  one  after 
another,  was  only  put  out  of  the  clergy,  and,  in  the 
council  of  Elvira,  only  three  years'  penance  was  imposed 
upon  them ;  that  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  laws,  which 
forbid  these  marriages,  prohibit  also  marriages  within 
the  degrees  of  consanguinity ;  that  there  is  not  certainly 
any  prohibition  of  such  marriages  by  the  law  of  nature  ; 
that  the  popes,  who  condemned  these  marriages,  did 
not  deprive  themselves  of  a  power  of  dispensing  in  some 
cases,  though  they  did  seldom  do  it;  that  there  are 
examples  of  marriages,  made  within  the  degrees  for 
bidden  in  Leviticus,  which  have  been  looked  upon  as 
lawful  marriages  ;  that  the  divines  and  canonists  have 
done  well,  in  teaching  that  marriages  within  the  degrees 
forbidden  in  Leviticus  were  null,  but  they  never  taught 
that  that  prohibition  was  a  law  of  nature,  as  to  all  the 


230  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

degrees,  and  particularly  that  of  the  brother  with  his 
sister-in-law,  especially  when  the  first  husband  dieth 
without  children  ;  that  Turrecremata,  who  is  one  of 
those  that  speak  most  fully  against  these  marriages, 
owns  that,  in  that  case,  the  marriage  of  the  sister-in- 
law  with  the  brother  is  not  forbidden,  and  that  the  pope 
may  allow  it ;  that  many  have  made  a  great  distinction 
between  a  marriage  that  is  consummated,  and  one  that 
is  not ;  that,  in  the  first  case,  there  are  two  impediments, 
the  one  is  public  decency,  and  the  other  is  carnal  affinity ; 
whereas,  in  the  other,  there  is  nothing  but  public 
decency. 

"  These  were  almost  all  the  arguments  that  were  pro 
duced,  on  both  sides,  in  this  great  cause.  To  give  a  true 
judgment  in  it,  it  is  necessary  to  examine,  of  what  na 
ture  the  law  in  Leviticus  is.  To  me  it  seems  certain, 
that  that  law  is  not  a  mere  ceremonial  or  political  law, 
wrhich  concerned  the  people  of  the  Jews  only  ;  it  is  more 
probable,  it  is  a  general  law  for  all  men  ;  but  it  is  not 
necessary,  for  that  reason,  that  it  should  be  of  natural 
right,  as  to  all  the  degrees  therein  forbidden.  The 
Jews  allege  two  reasons  for  the  prohibitions  of  marry 
ing  within  the  degrees  of  consanguinity  in  Leviticus  ; 
the  one  is  natural  modesty,  which  will  not  allow  fathers 
to  marry  their  children,  in  their  several  descents,  nor 
brothers  their  sisters ;  the  other  is,  a  fear  that  fami 
liarity  between  such  persons,  as,  upon  the  account  of 
their  near  relation,  are  obliged  to  dwell  together,  should 
give  frequent  occasion  to  criminal  familiarities.  The 
first  reason  is  grounded  upon  the  law  of  nature,  and 
concerns  all  those,  who  are  akin  in  a  direct  line,  as 
cending  or  descending,  and  also  brothers  and  sisters ; 
but  has  not  the  same  obligation  upon  kinsmen  in  a  col 
lateral  line,  and  particularly  such  persons  with  whom 
there  is  only  a  bare  affinity ;  and  so,  the  prohibition  of 
contracting  marriage  with  such  is  grounded  upon  the 
second  reason  only,  which  does  not  establish  a  natural 
and  indispensable  law,  although  that  prohibition  was  not 
intended  purely  for  the  Jews,  but  in  general  for  the  be- 


ART.  ir.]  DIVORCE  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE.  231 

nefit  of  all  mankind.  The  exception,  which  is  menti 
oned  in  Deuteronomy,  concerns  the  Jews  only,1  being 
made  only  for  the  upholding  of  the  distinctions  of  the 
families  and  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel.  The  new 
law  has  quite  abrogate^  that  exception,  but  still  con 
tinues  the  law  in  Leviticus,  which  the  Christians  have 
ever  valued  and  observed,  and  it  has  very  rarely  been 
dispensed  with ;  but  since  it  is  not  a  law  of  nature,  it 
may  be  absolutely  dispensed  with,  upon  very  important 
reasons.  It  belongs  not  to  us  to  judge,  whether  Julius  II. 
had  any  sufficient  reasons  to  dispense  with  Henry  and 
Catherine ;  but  we  may  say,  that  Henry,  having  mar 
ried  Catherine  by  virtue  of  that  dispensation,  and  lived 
near  twenty-five  years  with  her  as  his  wife,  could  not 
lawfully,  and  in  conscience,  be  parted  from  her,  that  he 
might  marry  another  ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  very  probable, 
his  attempt  proceeded  more  from  his  politics  and  his 
passion,  than  any  tenderness  of  his  conscience." 

1  That  Christians,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  ought  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  this  ex 
ception,  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Collier,  who  argues  in  this  manner:  "  Granting, 
as  they  affirm,  the  prohibition  in  Leviticus  was  binding  upon  all  nations,  grant 
ing  this,  why  should  not  the  dispensation  in  Deuteronomy  be  interpreted  in  the 
same  extent? — Indeed,  were  there  any  limitation  in  the  text  to  bar  this  privilege, 
the  case  would  be  altered;  but  since  this  cannot  be  pretended,  why  may  not 
Christians  have  the  benefit  of  the  Deuteronomy  exception  as  well  as  the  Jews? 
Since  the  gospel  allows  greater  liberties  in  other  matters,  why  must  it  do  less 
in  this  ?  Has  not  God  as  great  a  regard  for  the  public  interest  and  repose  of 
kingdoms,  under  the  Christian,  as  under  the  Jewish,  church  ?  And  if  so,  how 
can  the  provision,  allowed  the  one,  be  denied  the  other  ?" — Collier,  ii.  57. 


232  HENRY  Vllt.  j>ARt 


ARTICLE   III. 


THE       POPE'S       SUPREMACY       RENOUNCED PREPARATORY       MEASURES THE 

CLERGY     IN     A     PRjEMUNIKE — THEY     COMPOUND     WITH      THE     KING AND 

ACKNOWLEDGE    A    QUALIFIED    SUPREMACY     IN     THE    CROWN — COMPLAINTS 

OF    THE    COMMONS ANNATES   ABOLISHED RESTRAINTS     ON     THE    POWER 

OF    THE    CONVOCATION SUBSCRIPTIONS    AGAINST    THE    PAPAL    SUPREMACY 

IT    IS    ABOLISHED     BY    ACT     OF     PARLIAMENT NATURE     OF    THE    KING'S 

SUPREMACY— CROMWELL  VICAR  GENERAL — THE  BISHOPS  COMPELLED 
TO  SUE  OUT  COMMISSIONS  FROM  THE  KING — SUPREMACY  EXERCISED 
BY  HENRY  NEVER  CLAIMED  BY  HIS  PREDECESSORS. 

THE  rich  spoils,  which  king  Henry  VIII.  had  obtained 
by  the  disgrace  of  cardinal  Wolsey,1  only  whetted  his 
appetite  for  a  more  plentiful  feast.  It  was  suggested  to 
him,  by  some  enemies  of  the  ecclesiastical  order, 
that  all  the  clergy  might  easily  be  brought  under  a 
pr&munire,  for  accepting  of,  and  submitting  to,  a  lega- 
tine  power ;  and,  as  it  was  not  a  time  to  contend  with 
the  king,  so  it  was  judged  more  advisable  rather  to  rely 
upon  his  majesty's  clemency,  than  withstand  a  power, 
where  they  were  sure  to  be  crushed  by  the  court  party. 
Thus,  the  clergy  were  at  once  stripped  of  all  their  sub 
stance,  for  concurring  in  the  legatine  power,  in  which, 
notwithstanding,  both  the  cardinal  and  they  acted  by 
the  king's  allowance  and  approbation.  The  king,  upon 
a  pretence  of  showing  his  clemency,  would  not  take  all 
the  advantages  of  the  prcemunire.,  but  permitted  his 
ecclesiastical  subjects  to  come  to  a  composition ;  which 
yet  was  so  exorbitant,  that  it  was  thought  to  exceed 
a  literal  execution.  The  province  of  Canterbury  paid 
10p,000/.  and  the  province  of  York  18,840/.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  Mr.  Collier,  that  these  proceedings  against 
the  clergy  were  open  oppression,  if  they  were  indicted 
upon  the  statutes  of  provisors  and  praemunire  of  the 
27th  of  Edward  III.  and  the  16th  of  Richard  II. ;  these 
laws  being  only,  first,  to  secure  patronages  against  papal 

1  [Of  this  an  account  will  be  found  in  the  biographical  part  of  this  work. —  7'.] 


ART.  in.]   THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.      233 

provisions,,  and,  secondly,  to  prevent  impeachments  of 
judgment  given  in  the  king's  courts.  For  "  it  is 
observed,  that  several  English  archbishops,  since  the 
making  of  these  statutes,  have  acted  as  popes'  legates, 
without  any  prosecution  from  the  state  ;  and,  which  is 
more,  it  appears  pretty  plainly,  that  those  lords,  and 
other  persons  of  figure,  who  exhibited  the  articles  above- 
mentioned  against  cardinal  Wolsey,  were  not  of  opinion, 
that  the  legatine  authority  was  necessarily  subversive 
of  the  king's  prerogative,  or  inconsistent  with  the  laws 
of  the  land.  This,  I  say,  seems  to  appear  clearly  enough 

from  the  28th  article  against  Wolsey But  this  was 

not  all ;  there  was  more  than  money  required  of  the 
clergy.  The  king,  perceiving  the  process  of  the  divorce 
move  slowly  at  Rome,  and  the  issue  look  unpromising, 
projected  a  relief  another  way.  To  this  purpose,  he 
seems  to  have  formed  a  design  of  transferring  some  part 
of  the  pope's  pretensions  upon  the  crown,  and  setting 
up  an  ecclesiastical  supremacy.  And  now,  having 
gotten  the  clergy  entangled  in  a  pr&munire,  he  resolved 
to  seize  the  juncture,  and  push  the  advantage."  1 

It  was  no  small  piece  of  policy  in  king  Henry  VIII.  to 
proceed  gradually  in  his  attacks  against  the  see  of  Rome. 
A  sudden  and  total  breach  would  have  looked  like  the 
result  of  passion  ;  but,  by  walking  slowly,  and  stealing, 
as  it  were  in  the  dark,  out  of  the  pale  of  the  church,  the 
shock  was  less,  when  the  great  point  of  the  supremacy 
came  to  be  debated.  The  clergy,  therefore,  being  re 
solved  to  submit  to  the  king,  a  form  was  drawn  up, 
wherein  it  was  expressed,  that  the  king  was  head  of  the 
church  ;  which  title,  as  it  was  generally  believed,  was  a 
contrivance  of  Cromwell  and  Cranmer ;  one  an  open  and 
declared  enemy  to  the  clergy,  the  other,  though  himself 
a  clergyman  and  a  bishop,  yet  one  that  never  stuck  to 
betray  his  brethren,  if  he  could  thereby  pleasure  his 
prince.2  The  newness  and  visible  tendency  of  the  title 

1  Collier,  ii.  61,62. 

2  Cujus  consilii   Cranmerus  et  Cromwellus  clam  authores  fuissc  existima- 
"bantur.  Antiq.  Brit.  325. 


234  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  r. 

was  so  shocking  to  them,  at  first,  that,  when  the  form  of 
submission  was  proposed  in  convocation,  they  demurred 
for  a  time,  and  would  not  allow  of  a  headship  in  the  king 
over  the  church,  without  the  saving  clause  of  quantum 
per  legem  Dei  licet.  But  "  the  king  was  not  pleased  to 
find  their  submission  thus  softened  with  ambiguities  and 
exceptions  ;  Cromwell,  therefore,  was  sent  to  the  con 
vocation,  and  ordered  to  tell  them,  that,  unless  they 
spoke  plain,  and  threw  out  the  restriction,  the  premu- 
nire  would  not  be  discharged."  Upon  which,  most  of 
MAR.  the  convocation  submitted,  and  owned  the  title, 
22  "without  reserve."1  Yet  it  appears  from  bishop 
Tunstal's  protest,  and  from  the  remonstrance  he  made 
at  the  head  of  the  convocation  of  York,  that  both  he  and 
others  were  hared  and  bullied  into  the  court  measures.2 
Now,  though  a  declaration  of  the  king's  headship  was  a 
step  towards  discarding  the  papal  supremacy,  yet  the 
ambiguity  of  the  title  left  room  (as  some  expounded  it) 
still  for  a  spiritual  supremacy  elsewhere.  It  was  not 
sufficiently  expressed,  what  were  the  limits  of  that  head 
ship,  and  how  far  the  recognition  extended ;  a  point 

1  Collier,  ii.  62.  [This  passage  undoubtedly  occurs  in  Collier:  but  he  cites  it 
from  the  author  of  the  Antiquitates  Britannicoe,  and  immediately  proceeds  to 
show,  that,  in  it,  "  the  matter  is  misreported."     He  informs  us,  on  the  authority 
of  the  convocation  journal,  that,  in  the  form  first  proposed,  Henry  was  styled 
"sole  protector,  and  supreme  head  of  the  church  and  clergy  of  England:1'  that 
to  this  title  the  convocation,  during  three  days,  resolutely  refused  its  assent : 
that,  at  the  expiration  of  that  term,  Henry  offered  to  allow  the  insertion  of  the 
words  "  under  God"  after  "  head  of  the  church :"  but  that,  finding  it  impossible 
to  obtain  the  recognition  of  his  claim,  even  with  this  modification,  he  ultimately 
consented  to  accept  an  acknowledgment,  that  of  the  church  and  clergy  of  Eng 
land  he  was  "the  chief  protector,  the  only  and  supreme  lord,  and,  as  far  as  the 
law  of  Christ  would  allow  (quantum  per  legem  Christi  licet),  supreme  head." 
The  grant  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds,  which  the  king  had  hitherto  refused 
to  accept,  was  now  drawn  up,  in  the  usual  form  ;  and  this  equivocal  admis 
sion  of  the  royal  supremacy  was  embodied  in  a  parenthesis,  and  inserted  among 
the  motives,  on  which  the  donation  was  made.     Collier  adds,  that,  in  the  upper 
house  of  convocation,  nine  bishops,  and  sixty-two  abbots  and  priors,  in  the  lower, 
eighty-four  members  of  the  clergy,  including  forty-six  proxies,  voted  for  the 
adoption  of  this  form.  See  Collier,  *ii.  62,  63,  and  Wilkins,  iii.  725— 743.— 7VJ 

2  [So  far  was  Tunstal  from  being  "  bullied  into  the  court  measures,"  on  this 
occasion,  that  he  not  only  denounced  the  adoption  of  the  form,  but  also  de 
manded  the  insertion  of  his  protest  against  it, among  the  acts  of  the  convocation. 
Wilkins,  iii,  745.    His  speech  is  printed  in  Atterbury's  Rights  of  English  Con 
vocations,  Append.  519.— -TV) 


-ART.  in.]   THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.      235 

more  fully  explained,  when  the  parliament  took  the  cause 
in  hand,  and  a  statute  and  oath  were  formed  for  that 
purpose,  about  two  years  after. 

The  clergy  being  under  these  hard  circumstances,  the 
house  of  commons  (who  were  men  picked  out  for  the 
purpose)  began  to  declaim  vehemently  against  them,  as 
the  custom  is,  when  persons  are  in  a  sinking  condition. 
They  were  furnished  with  matter  of  complaint  from  two 
common  topics,  viz.  abuses  at  home,  and  oppressions 
from  the  see  of  Rome  abroad  ;  and,  to  show  they  were 
in  earnest,  they  prepared  several  bills  relating  to  annates, 
pluralities,  residence,  probates  of  wills,  mortuaries,  power 
of  convocations,  &c.,  which  inquiries  had  both  a  good 
and  an  evil  aspect,  accordingly  as  they  affected  persons 
of  different  dispositions  and  tempers.  Those  that  were 
friends  to  religion,  and  zealous  for  discipline,  might  be 
apt  to  look  upon  it  only  as  a  method  for  reforming  abuses, 
which  the  best  practices  were  subject  to  ;  others,  that 
were  atheistically  inclined,  regarded  it,  as  it  really  was,, 
as  a  method  of  reducing  the  clergy,  and  stripping  them 
of  their  privileges.  Those,  that  suspected  the  worst, 
durst  not  open  their  mouths  on  the  occasion ;  only  John 
Fisher,  bishop  of  Rochester  (the  ornament  of  his  age  for 
learning  and  piety,  and  who  never  was  silent  where  the 
honour  of  God  was  concerned),  as  he  saw  through  the 
disguise,  so  he  wanted  not  courage  to  speak  his  mind 
freely.  When,  in  1529,  some  of  these  bills  were  first 
projected,  he  told  their  promoters  that  it  was  not  zeal 
for  religion,  but  flattery,  liberty,  avarice,  rapine,  and 
sacrilege,  that  put  them  upon  such  projects.  This  free 
dom  being  complained  of,  and  particularly,  that  he  had 
been  too  severe  in  his  reflections  upon  the  laity,  he  was 
permitted  to  explain  himself,  and  his  apology  was  ac 
cepted  of.1  Neither  were  the  laity  backward  in  recri 
minating  upon  Fisher,  and  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  who 
had  conceived  an  evil  opinion  of  their  proceedings,  as  it 
appears  by  a  speech  of  a  warm  gentleman  of  the  house 
of  commons,  which  gives  us  a  true  idea  of  the  religion  of 

1  Bailey's  Lite  of  Fisher,  101—105;  Herb.  320,  321. 


236  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

certain  persons,  in  those  times.  The  speech  concludes 
with  these  words :  "  So  that,  whether  the  eastern  or  west 
ern  teachers  ;  and  particularly,  whether  my  lord  of  Ro 
chester,  Luther,  Eckius,  Zuinglius,  Erasmus,  Melancthon, 
&c.,  be  in  the  right,  we  of  the  laity  shall  suffer  no 
thing  by  the  disagreement."  This  in  effect  was  treating 
religion  as  if  it  were  a  trifling  concern,  not  worth  taking 
notice  of.1 

Afterwards,  the  parliament  went  upon  the  above-men 
tioned  bills,  and,  in  the  two  years,  1531  and  1532,  gra 
dually  completed  their  work,  by  lopping  off  what  they 
looked  upon  to  be  the  excrescences  of  the  papal  supre 
macy.  In  the  first  place,  the  statutes,  concerning  pro 
visions  and  appeals  to  Rome,  were  confirmed,  and  farther 
explained.  It  was  enacted,  that  to  procure  pluralities, 
by  the  interest  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  should  be  pun 
ished  with  the  loss  of  the  profits,  and  seventy  pounds 
forfeiture :  to  procure  a  license  for  non-residence  from 
the  said  see,  twenty  pounds  forfeiture.2  But  nothing 
made  more  noise,  than  questioning  the  payment  of  the 
annates,  or  first-fruits,  and  disputing  the  power  of  the 
convocation ;  which  was  a  double  attack,  both  against  the 
see  of  Rome  and  the  clergy  at  home.  The  annates  were 
a  year's  value  of  ecclesiastical  benefices,  payable  to  the 
bishop  of  Rome,  in  order  to  support  his  dignity,  and 
answer  the  charge  of  supervising  the  affairs  of  the  church. 
This  was  a  voluntary  tax,  which  most  nations  had  sub 
mitted  to,  for  several  ages.  Now,  the  present  ministry 

1  [This  speech  is  printed  by  Collier  (ii.  45 — 47),  and  is  professedly  taken 
from  lord  Herbert.     In  the  latter,  however,  the  conclusion  of  the  passage,  cited 
by  Dodd,  is  wholly  at  variance  with  Collier's  version.     After  speaking  of  the 
"  common  truths  of  leligion"  as  "  catholic  or  universal  notions/'  and  exhorting 
his  hearers  to  "  fix  and  establish"  them  as  "  bonds  of  unity,"  which  "will  not 
hinder  them  to  believe  whatever  else  is  faithfully  taught,  upon  the  authority  of 
the  church,"  the  speaker  concludes  by  saying,  that,  whether  my  lord  of  Roches 
ter,  &c.,  be  in  the  right,  "  we  laics  may  so  luild  upon  those  catholic  and  infalli 
ble  grounds    of  religion,  as  whatsoever  superstructures  of  faith  be  raised   (he 
has  been  speaking  of  "  the  belief  of  aw/  pious  miracle,  that  conduceth  to  God's 
glory"},  those  foundations  yet  may  support  them."     Herb.  324.  Edit.  1672. 
This  also  agrees  with  the  edition  in  Kennet. — T."] 

2  [Stat.  21  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  13.     The  reference  to  this  statute  will  show  that 
it  was  passed  in  1529,  not  in  1531,  as  Dodd  erroneously  supposes.     Warham 
entered  a  formal  protest  against  it  among  the  acts  of  the  convocation.   Wilkins, 
iii.  746.— 7'.] 


ART.  in,]   THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.      237 

represented  it  as  an  unreasonable  and  insupportable  bur 
den  ;  that  immense  sums  were  carried  out  of  the  king 
dom,  by  that  means  ;  and,  in  particular,  they  pretended 
to  calculate,  that,  since  the  second  year  of  Henry  VII., 
the  annates  amounted  to  a  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
pounds  sterling.  Upon  this  representation,  true  or  JAN. 
false,  it  was  resolved  in  parliament,  that,  unless  his  1532 
holiness  would  accept  a  composition  of  five  pounds  in 
the  hundred,  he  should  be  opposed  in  his  demands  ;  and 
if  he  proceeded  to  censures  on  that  account,  the  clergy 
of  England  should  not  regard  them.1  Now,  this  motion 
for  a  composition  was  all  a  pretence.  The  design  was, 
to  discharge  the  English  clergy  from  the  obligation;  as 
appears  by  the  bill,  that  passed  for  that  purpose,  in  the 
year  1534.2  But  by  an  usual  inconsistency  among  the 
politicians  of  those  days,  a  tax,  that  was  burthensome 
and  insupportable,  when  required  by  the  see  of  Rome, 
was  become  easy  and  reasonable,  when  the  annates  were 
transferred  upon  the  crown.  Thus  it  seems,  Henry  VIII. 
was  not  disposed  to  undertake  the  supremacy  gratis. 
For  it  cannot  be  denied,  but  that  a  general  supervisor-  • 
ship  is  attended  with  great  charge,  both  in  civil  and  re 
ligious  matters. 

The  other  point,  concerning  the  power  of  convocation, 
was  much  more  perplexing.  The  national  clergy  of 
England,  under  the  inspection  of  the  universal  pastor, 
always  looked  upon  themselves  to  enjoy  a  power  of  act 
ing,  independently  of  the  civil  magistrate,  in  all  matters 

1  [The  act  is  printed  in  Biirnet  (i.  Rec.  95).     By  it,  in  addition  to  what  is 
mentioned  in  the  text,  it  was  enacted,  that,  if  any  person  should  thenceforth  pre 
sume  to  pay  first  fruits  to  the  see  of  Rome,  he  should  forfeit  his  personalties  to 
the  king,  and  should  lose  the  profits  of  his  benefice,  for  the  whole  term  of  his 
possession  ;  and  that  if,  in  consequence  of  his  obedience  to  this  law,  his  bulls 
should  be  withheld,  he  should  nevertheless  be  consecrated,  if  to  a  bishopric,  by 
the  metropolitan  of  his  see,  if  to  an  archbishopric,  by  two  bishops,  according  to 
the  ancient  custom  of  the  church.     The  composition,  mentioned  in  the  text, 
refers  to  a  clause  in  the  act,  permitting  each  bishop  to  pay,  for  the  expediting  of 
his  bulls,  a  fee  of  five  per  cent,  on  the  clear  annual  revenue  of  his  see :  by 
another  clause,  Henry  was  encouraged  to  negotiate  with  the  pope  upon  the  sub 
ject  ;  and,  with  this  view,  at  any  time  before  Easter  in  the  following  year,  either 
to  modify,  annul,  or  confirm  the  statute,  as  he  might  deem  expedient. — TV] 

2  Stat.  26  Hen.  VIII.  c.  3. 


238  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

purely  spiritual,  viz.  consecrations,  administration  of 
the  sacraments,  censuring  erroneous  opinions  and  im 
morality,  and  even  in  assembling  themselves,  in  order 
to  make  laws  concerning  faith  and  morals  ;  though,  when 
an  assembly  was  national,  the  king's  concurrence  was 
required,  upon  account  of  the  mixed  causes,  in  which  his 
prerogative  and  the  civil  rights  of  the  subject  had  often 
some  concern.  Now,  the  commons,  being  resolutely 
bent  to  humble  the  clergy  to  the  very  ground,  remon 
strated  against  them  in  several  articles,  which  all  termi 
nated  in  this  :  that  an  independent  power  in  the  clergy 
to  make  laws,  though  entirely  spiritual,  was  prejudicial 
to  the  civil  magistrate,  and  derogatory  to  the  royal  pre 
rogative.  The  bishops  and  abbots  were  very  much 
alarmed  at  this  proposal,  and  returned  distinct  answers 
to  every  article  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  expressed  a  wil 
lingness  to  have  all  points  redressed,  that  appeared  to 
be  an  encroachment  upon  the  king's  prerogative.  It 
seems  the  clergy  began  now  to  feel  out  the  meaning  of 
the  court  party,  and  that  there  was  a  set  of  atheistical 
men  about  the  king,  who  were  resolved,  not  only  to 
abolish  all  foreign  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  but  to  ham 
string  all  the  clergy  at  home,  by  making  them  depen 
dant  on  the  civil  magistrate,  in  all  parts  of  their  charac 
ter.  And  the  shortest  way  to  effect  this  w7as,  to  hinder 
them  from  meeting,  or  consulting,  without  express  leave 
of  the  crown  ;  and  that  no  sanction  of  theirs  should  be 
of  any  force,  unless  it  was  approved  of  by  the  king.  By 
this  means,  there  appeared  to  be  an  unavoidable  neces 
sity,  either  of  secularizing  the  clergy,  and  making  them 
only  a  branch  of  the  secular  power,  or  of  spiritualizing 
the  king,  and  declaring  him  qualified  to  answer  every 
thing  in  both  capacities.  It  was  in  vain  to  attempt  mak 
ing  a  party  against  the  designs  of  the  court.  However, 
the  clergy  took  the  liberty  to  offer  some  reasons,  which 
might  make  his  majesty  sensible  that  he  was  going  to 
deal  very  hardly  with  them,  and  did  not  act  with  that 
uniformity,  which  commonly  attends  thought  and  re 
flection.  They  appealed  to  his  own  book  against  Luther, 


AIIT.  in.]      THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.  239 

wherein  he  owns,  and  learnedly  proves,  a  power  in  the 
church,  and  particularly  in  the  see  of  Rome,  jure  divino, 
independent  in  all  spiritual  matters  i1  that  the  power  of 
the  clergy,  being  immediately  from  God,  was  not  to  be 
cramped  and  rendered  insignificant  by  the  civil  magis 
trate  :  that  both  in  England,  and  all  other  nations  where 
Christianity  was  professed,  the  clergy  were  always  free 
and  independent,  as  to  essentials  of  their  character,  and, 
besides,  were  favoured  with  a  great  number  of  privileges 
of  a  civil  nature,  which,  like  outworks  to  a  city,  guarded 
them  against  all  unjust  attacks,  and  unbecoming  beha 
viour  of  those,  that  were  enemies  to  their  establishment. 
These  and  such-like  arguments  were  judged  by  a  great 
many  to  be  very  much  to  the  purpose :  but  they  were 
urged  by  those,  who  wanted  courage  to  stand  by  them. 
For,  at  the  close  of  their  remonstrance,  they  became  very 
condescending  and  complaisant,  and  assured  his  majesty 
that  they  would  never  publish  any  ecclesiastical  decree, 
without  his  approbation,  excepting  what  related  to  arti 
cles  of  faith,  and  such  matters,  in  which  the  law  of  God 
had  made  them  independent.  But  here  again,  they  were 
obliged  to  abandon  this  plea.  The  king  would  have  all, 
or  none :  and,  accordingly,  when  his  headship  was  ex 
pounded  by  the  act  of  supremacy,  he  was  declared  to  be 
the  fountain  of  all  jurisdiction,  both  temporal  and  spiri- 


1  "  ^utlier  cannot  deny,  but  that  all  the  faithful  Christian  churches,  at  this  day, 
do  acknowledge  and  reverence  the  holy  see  of  Rome  as  their  mother  and  primate, 
&c.  And  if  this  acknowledgment  is  grounded  neither  on  divine  nor  human 
right,  how  hath  it  taken  so  great  and  general  root  ?  How  was  it  admitted  so 
universally  by  all  Christendom  ?  when  began  it  ?  how  grew  it  to  be  so  great  ? 
Yea,  and  the  Greek  church  also,  though  the  empire  was  passed  to  that  part,  we 
shall  find  that  she  acknowledged  the  primacy  of  the  same  Roman  church,  but 

only  when  she  was  in  schism Whereas  Luther  so  impudently  doth  affirm, 

that  the  pope  hath  his  primacy  by  no  right,  neither  divine  nor  human,  but  only 
by  force  and  tyranny,  I  do  wonder  how  the  mad  fellow  could  hope  to  find  his 
readers  so  simple  or  blockish,  as  to  believe,  that  the  bishop  of  Rome,  being  a 
priest,  unarmed,  alone,  without  temporal  force,  or  right  either  divine  or  human 
(as  he  supposed),  should  be  able  to  get  authority  over  so  many  bishops,  his  equals, 
throughout  so  many  and  different  nations,  so  far  off  from  him,  and  so  little 
fearing  his  temporal  power:  or  that  so  many  people,  cities,  kingdoms,  common 
wealths,  provinces,  and  nations,  would  be  so  prodigal  of  their  own  liberty,  as  to 
subject  themselves  to  a  foreign  priest  (as  now  so  many  ages  they  have  done), 
or  to  give  him  such  authority  over  themselves,  if  he  had  no  right  thereunto  at 
all."— King  Hen.  VIII.  Def.  Sacram.  contra  Lutherum. 


240  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

MAY  tual.  In  the  meantime,  the  clergy  submitted  to 
15-  him,  in  the  debate  concerning  the  power  of  convo 
cation,  in  the  following  terms  :  "  We  do  oiFer  and  pro 
mise,  in  verbo  sacerdotii,  here  unto  your  highness,  sub 
mitting  ourselves  most  humbly  to  the  same,  that  we  will 
never,  from  henceforth,  enact,  put  in  ure,  promulge,  or 
execute  any  new  canons  or  constitutions  provincial,  or 
any  other  new  ordinance  provincial  or  synodal,  in  our 
convocation  or  synod,  in  time  coming  (which  convoca 
tion  is,  always  hath  been,  and  must  be  assembled,  only 
by  your  high  commandment  or  writ),  unless  your  high 
ness  by  your  royal  assent  shall  licence  us  to  assemble 
our  convocation,  and  to  make,  promulge,  and  execute 
such  constitutions  and  ordinances  as  shall  be  made  in 
the  same,  and  thereto  give  your  royal  assent  and  autho 
rity."1  This  power  was  not  only  claimed  by  king  Henry 
VIII. ,  but,  if  Dr.  Nichols  be  a  true  reporter  of  the  pre 
sent  discipline  of  the  church  of  England,  the  same  power 
is  still  challenged  by  all  his  successors.  "  Without  a 
royal  licence,"  says  this  writer,  "  our  synod  cannot  only 
make  no  new  canons,  but  they  must  not  so  much  as  de 
liberate  about  them ;  neither  can  they  pass  any  ecclesi 
astical  censure  upon  heterodox  or  irreligious  books.2 
The  king's  supremacy  having  thus  obtained  the 
sanction  of  the  convocation,  orders  were  dispersed 
all  over  the  kingdom  for  a  general  subscription  ;  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  year  1534  was  spent,  in  bringing 
the  respective  bodies  in  church  and  state  to  comply. 
The  most  exceptionable  part  of  the  form,  to  which  they 
were  obliged  to  subscribe,  was,  that  the  Roman  bishop 
had  received  from  God  no  more  jurisdiction  in  this 
kingdom,  than  any  other  foreign  bishop  ;  to  which 

1  [See  the  whole  of  the  proceedings  in  Wilkins,  iii.  748 — 755.    With  regard 
to  the  constitutions  already  in  existence,  the  clergy  propose  that  they  shall  be 
submitted  to  the  examination  of  a  committee,  to  be  composed  of  the  king  him 
self  and  thirty-two  other  members,  sixteen  from  the  two  houses  of  parliament, 
and  the  same  number  from  the  body  of  the  clergy;  and  that  such  of  them,  as 
shall  appear  to  the  majority  of  these  persons  to  be  repugnant  to  the  laws  either 
of  God  or  of  the  kingdom,  shall  be  immediately  annulled  (Ibid.  755).    The  sub 
stance  of  this  instrument  was  afterwards  embodied  in  an  act  of  parliament. 
Stat,  25  Hen.  VIII.  c.  19.— TV] 

2  Defence  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  church  of  England. 


ART.  in.]    THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.     241 

most  of  the  prelates  and  abbots  put  their  trembling  hands, 
as  not  having  the  courage  to  run  the  risk  of  a  refusal.1 
Then  the  orders  being  sent  down  to  the  two  universities, 
Cambridge  made  a  public  disclaim  of  the  pope's  supre 
macy,  by  a  decree,  bearing  date  May  2,  1534  ;  and,  on 
the  twenty-seventh  of  July,  the  like  decree  passed  in 
the  university  of  Oxford.2  But  they  both  subscribed 
with  so  ill  a  grace,  that  it  was  visible  nothing  but  the 
terror  of  punishment  had  prevailed  upon  them :  par 
ticularly  as  to  Oxford,  Mr.  Wood  gives  an  account,  that 
several,  even  those  that  were  upon  the  foundation, 
rather  than  subscribe,  willingly  gave  all  up ;  that  the 
major  part  of  those,  that  did  subscribe,  did  it  with  the 
injury  of  their  conscience  ;  and  that  many  of  them,  at 
the  same  time,  signed  an  instrument,  whereby  they 
mutually  engaged  that  they  never  would,  either  pub 
licly  or  privately,  attack  the  supremacy  of  the  see  of 
Rome.3 

It  was  the  latter  end  of  1534,  before  the  parliament 
came  to  a  final  determination  of  the  debate,  concerning 
the  supremacy.  The  clergy  were  too  much  reduced  by 
their  late  ill  treatment,  to  make  any  great  opposition ; 
only  seven  bishops,  and  two  mitred  abbots,  appeared  in 
the  house  upon  this  occasion.  The  rest  were  not  will 
ing  to  signalize  themselves,  and,  as  much  as  they  were 
able,  endeavoured  to  stand  neuter,  though  afterwards 
they  suffered  themselves  to  be  carried  away  with  the 
stream.  One  remarkable  speech,  indeed,  was  made, 
which  some  ascribe  to  bishop  Fisher.  Whoever  the 

1  Rymer,xiv.  487-527. 

2  See  Appendix,  No.  XXXVIII. 

3  [I  subjoin  the  whole  of  the  original  passage  from  Wood ;  by  which  it  will 
appear,  that  Dodd  has  misunderstood  the  nature  of  this  engagement.  "  Viritim 
dein  examen  instituitur,  proposita  singulatim  quaestione,  an  jurisdictionem  quis 
pontificiam  repudiare  vellet :  qua  quidem  in  re  hand  ita  diu  harebant  acade- 
mici  (quorum  tamen  partem  longe  maximam  cum  Romanis,  quoad  fidem,  sen- 
sisse  ambigendum  non  est)  quin  plerique,  appositisirstrumento  cuidam  nomini- 
bus,  polliciti  fuerint,  se,  neque  in  concionibus  publicis  neque  privatis,  Papce 
aut  summi  Pontijicis  mentionem  habituros,  verurn  Episcopum  Romanum,  vel 
Episcopum  Ecclesia>  Romance,  prout  occasio  tulerit,  vocitaturos  (Antiq.  Oxon. 
259).  Hence  it  is  clear,  that,  instead  of  engaging  not  to  "attack  the  supremacy" 
of  the  Pope,  they  pledged  themselves  to  deprive  him  of  the  very  title,  by  which 
that  supremacy  was  designated. — T."] 

VOL.  I.  R 


242  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

person  was,  he  takes  the  liberty  to  say,  that  the  cause 
was  of  the  greatest  consequence,  in  which  not  only  the 
present  age,  but  posterity  was  concerned ;  that  he  could 
wish  the  king  were  capable  of  that  power  he  aimed  at ; 
that  it  was  an  attempt  directly  opposite  to  the  practice 
of  the  English  nation,  in  all  former  ages ;  that  it  was 
depriving  the  ecclesiastical  body  of  a  spiritual  head, 
much  more  necessary  than  in  temporal  affairs  ;  that  no 
spiritual  jurisdiction  was  ever  looked  upon  as  valid, 
without  the  approbation  of  the  see  of  Rome ;  that  the 
see  of  Rome  was  the  centre  of  unity,  by  whose  authority 
heresy  had  been  always  suppressed,  and  princes  recon 
ciled  by  submitting  to  her  decisions  and  arbitration ; 
in  fine,  Rome  was  a  kind  of  court  of  Chancery  to  all 
nations,  that  professed  Christianity;  and  those,  that 
were  divided  from  her,  would  be  like  branches  cut  off 
from  the  tree  of  life.1  But  arguments  are  of  little  force 
against  power ;  and  whatever  persons  might  think,  or 
talk,  against  the  proceedings  of  the  court,  it  was  resolved 
that  an  end  should  be  put  to  all  correspondence  with 
Rome,  as  to  any  claim  of  jurisdiction  over  the  English 
clergy  ;  and,  accordingly,  an  act  passed,  abrogating  the 
pope's  supremacy,  declaring  it,  at  the  same  time,  to 
belong  to  the  king's  prerogative,  and  all  those  to  be 
guilty  of  treason,  who,  by  words  or  writing,  should 
oppose  this  statute.  Now,  the  nature  of  this  supre 
macy  is  expressed  in  the  act,  in  the  following  terms  : 
"  Our  sovereign  lord,  his  heirs  and  successors,  kings  of 
this  realm,  shall  have  full  power  and  authority,  from 
time  to  time,  to  visit,  repress,  redress,  reform,  order, 
correct,  restrain,  and  amend  all  such  errors,  heresies, 
abuses,  offences,  contempts,  and  enormities,  whatsoever 
they  be,  which,  by  any  manner  [of]  spiritual  authority 
or  jurisdiction,  ought,  or  may  lawfully  be  reformed, 
&c."2 

1  [This  speech,  if  it  were  ever  spoken,  was  certainly  not  delivered  in  the 
house,  or  on  this  occasion.     It  was  originally  printed  by  Herbert  (390),  as  the 
speech  of  a  privy-counsellor,  in  1533,  and  was  evidently  addressed  to  Henry 
himself.— T7.] 

2  Stat.  26  Hen.  VIII.  c.  1.     [Two  years  later,  an  oath,  rejecting  the  autho 
rity  of  the  Roman  see,  was  drawn  up  ;  and  all  officers,  civil  and  ecclesiastical, 


ART.  in.]   THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.      243 

It  is  a  surprising  reflection,  that  a  whole  nation  should 
concur  to  give  up  all  at  once  an  uncontested  article  of 
their  religion,  and  which  both  the  king,  and  all  the 
learned  men  of  both  universities,  had  so  lately  main 
tained  against  Martin  Luther.  But  the  author  of  bishop 
Fisher's  Life  does,  in  some  measure,  account  for  it ;  for, 
besides  what  he  allows  to  libertines  and  atheistical  per 
sons,  who  were  resolved  to  distress  the  pope,  and  carry 
their  point,  right  or  wrong,  he  tells  us,  that  the  sober 
and  learned  part  of  the  nation  flattered  themselves  with 
a  belief,  that  what  was  granted  to  the  king,  by  that  sta 
tute,  amounted  to  no  more  than  a  civil  power  over  the 
persons  and  goods  of  the  clergy,  who  still  were  inde 
pendent  as  to  all  the  essential  parts  of  their  character. 
But  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  reconcile  this  persuasion 
with  the  words  of  the  act,  where  the  king  is  declared 
to  be  the  fountain  of  all  jurisdiction,  both  temporal  and 
spiritual,  and  that  his  power  extends  to  all  matters, 
both  discipline  and  doctrine.  I  am  not  ignorant  that 
many  reformers,  both  of  the  church  by  law  established, 
as  well  as  dissenters,  are  disposed  to  expound  the  act, 
after  the  manner  I  have  mentioned,  and  do  often  plead 
for  a  spiritual  independency  ;  but,  besides  incurring  the 
penalty  of  the  act,  they  lay  themselves  too  open  to  be 
attacked  by  the  Catholics,  who  will  turn  the  argument 
from  independency  against  them,  with  great  advantage. 
However,  it  is  the  opinion  of  many  writers  of  the  church 
of  England,  that  the  king  is  limited,  in  the  exercise  of 
his  supremacy,  and  that  the  church,  in  many  cases,  may 
challenge  an  independency.  For,  in  the  first  place,  it 
is  expressly  affirmed  in  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  "  That 
the  church  has  a  power  to  decree  rights  and  ceremonies, 
and  authority  in  controversies  of  faith.  This  article 
pronounces  the  church  the  judge  in  matters  of  faith,  and 
seems  to  contradict  the  statute  before  us.  But,  notwith 
standing  this  inconsistency,  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  are 
not  only  confirmed  by  the  ratification  of  two  kings,  but 

all  clergymen  at  their  ordination,  and  all  members  of  the  universities  about  to 
graduate,  were  compelled,  under  pain  of  treason,  to  take  it.  It  was  afterwards 
enlarged  and  enforced  by  another  statute.  See  Appendix,  No.  XXXIX. — T.~\ 

R  2 


244  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

likewise  by  an  act  of  parliament,  in  the  reign  of  queen 
Elizabeth. — By  divine  appointment,  the  church  and 
state  are  two  bodies  perfectly  distinct ;  they  are  raised 
upon  different  charters;  they  have  powers  independent 
of  each  other  ;  the  government  is  conveyed  through  dif 
ferent  channels,  and  the  views  in  the  institution  are  not 
the  same." ]  "  Our  kings  leave  the  power  of  the  keys, 
and  jurisdiction  purely  spiritual,  to  those  to  whom 
Christ  hath  left  it."!  "As  for  spiritual  jurisdiction, 
standing  in  examination  of  controversies  of  faith,  judg 
ing  of  heresies,  &c this  we  reserve  entire  to  the 

church,  which  princes  cannot  give  to,  nor  take  from, 
the  church."3  "  Liturgies,  preaching,  &c.  belong 
purely  to  the  sacerdotal  power."  "  The  power  of  the 
church  is  so  absolute  and  depending  on  God  alone,  that 
if  a  sovereign  professing  Christianity  should  forbid  the 
profession  of  that  faith,  or  the  exercise  of  those  ordi 
nances,  which  God  hath  required  to  be  served  with,  or 
even  the  exercise  of  that  ecclesiastical  power,  which  is 
necessary  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  church,  it  must 
needs  be  necessary  for  those,  that  are  trusted  with  the 
power  of  the  church,  not  only  to  disobey  the  commands 
of  the  sovereign,  but  to  use  that  power,  which  their 
quality  in  the  society  of  the  church  gives  them,  to  pro 
vide  for  the  subsistence  thereof,  without  the  assistance 
of  the  secular  powers  ;  a  thing  manifestly  supposed  by 
all  the  bishops  of  the  ancient  church,  in  all  those  actions 
wherein  they  refused  to  obey  their  emperors  seduced  by 
heretics." 5  "  Farther,  it  may  be  objected,  that  Decius 
and  Dioclesian  were  as  absolute  in  the  Roman  empire, 
as  the  king  and  parliament  are  in  England ;  and  that 
the  Grand  Seignior  has  now  the  same  extent  of  autho 
rity  in  Turkey.  The  question,  therefore,  is,  whether, 
by  the  grounds  of  this  act  (as  it  is  sometimes  inter 
preted),  these  princes  might  not  be  judges  in  matters 
of  faith,  and  manage  the  government  of  the  church  at 
pleasure  ?  The  next  question  is,  whether,  upon  this 

1  Collier,  ii.  81,  89.  2  Bramhall,  Schism  guarded,  63. 

3  Carleton's  Jurisdiction  Regal,  Episcopal,  and  Papal,  9. 
4  Tortura  Torti,  366.  5  Thorndike's  Rights  of  the  Church,  234. 


ART.  in.]   THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.      245 

scheme,  the  being  of  Christian  religion  does  not  lie  at 
the  mercy  of  the  civil  government  ?  And  then  the  last 
interrogatory  will  be,  whether  the  bishops  are  not 
bound;  in  some  cases,  to  make  a  stand  upon  the  regale ; 
to  break  through  an  act  of  this  nature,  in  defence  of 
their  creed,  to  run  the  last  hazards,  rather  than  throw 
up  their  commission,  and  desert  the  interest  of  Chris 
tianity  ?  If  I  had  maintained  the  affirmative  of  this  last 
question,  I  should  have  been  supported  by  the  authority 
of  the  learned  bishop  Wake,  in  his  Authority  of  Chris 
tian  Princes  over  Synods  Ecclesiastical" 1 

I  will  not  pretend  to  determine,  whether  these  divines 
have  mistaken  the  case  of  the  king's  supremacy,  much 
less  to  pronounce  upon  the  meaning  of  the  statute. 
However,  two  things  I  dare  venture  to  affirm,  first,  that, 
their  comment  upon  that  law  is  not  agreeable  to  the 
doctrine  of  many  of  their  own  church :  secondly,  that, 
whatever  the  opinion  of  the  one  or  the  other  may  be,  it 
is  certain,  that,  in  practice,  the  clergy  of  England  are 
not  allowed  to  enjoy  any  independent  power  or  juris 
diction,  either  temporal  or  spiritual.  So  that,  from  the 
whole,  it  appears  to  me,  that,  though  the  see  of  Rome  is 
a  loser  by  this  act  of  parliament,  the  Protestant  clergy 
have  gained  nothing  by  it ;  they  have  only  changed  mas 
ters,  and,  instead  of  paying  obedience  to  those  of  their 
own  character,  have  put  themselves  entirely  under  the 
power  of  the  laity ;  and,  considering  the  uncertainty  of 
human  affairs,  and  the  revolutions  that  kingdoms  and 
civil  governments  are  subject  to,  their  creed  may  ring 
the  changes  of  the  state  ;  and,  if  Providence  is  disposed 
to  punish  their  crimes  by  such  a  defection,  deism  or 
atheism  may  obtain  an  establishment,  and  the  thirty-nine 
articles  be  jostled  out  by  the  Alcoran.  I  am  not  igno 
rant  of  what  some  subtle  divines  of  these  our  days  have 
advanced,  that  imperium  in  imperio,  or  two  indepen 
dent  powers,  under  the  same  constitution,  is  a  paradox 
in  government ;  which  may  be  true,  where  the  end  and 
means  are  the  same.  But  how  agreeable  it  is  to  the 
economy  of  a  church  established  immediately  by  Christ, 

1  Collier,  ii.  89. 


246  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

or  to  the  jus  divinum  of  episcopacy  or  presbytery,  to  ac 
knowledge  a  supremacy  in  laymen,  is  a  matter  of  in 
quiry  I  leave  to  the  reader's  private  reflection. — But,  to 
return. 

The  king  now  began  to  consider  distinctly  the  se 
veral  branches  of  his  supremacy.  "  His  new  title  of 
head  of  the  church  seemed  to  have  increased  his  impe 
rious  temper,  and  made  him  fancy,  that  all  his  sub 
jects  were  obliged  to  regulate  their  belief  by  the  mea 
sures  he  set  them  ;'n  and  he  quickly  gave  them  to  under 
stand,  that  he  did  not  design  to  sleep  over  his  office. 
He  took  care  to  have  it  proposed  in  parliament,,  that 
overseeing  a  national  church  was  a  very  chargeable  un 
dertaking,  and  so  he  hoped  they  would  take  it  into  con 
sideration,,  whether  the  annates,  or  first-fruits,,  might  not 
reasonably  be  allowed  him,  to  defray  the  expenses.  The 
parliament  found  no  difficulty  in  granting  him  his  re 
quest  ;  but  with  what  consistence  let  the  world  judge,, 
since  they  had  looked  upon  it  as  an  exorbitant  demand, 
and  great  oppression,  when  required  by  the  pope.2  Ano 
ther  remarkable  instance  of  his  spiritual  capacity 

1535  T  ,  J        rri  n     i   •          • 

was,  when  he  made  Inomas  Cromwell  his  vicar- 
general,  and  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  convocation. 
"  A  frightful  sight !"  as  bishop  Godwin  observes.3  "  His 
authority  was,  in  all  points,  the  same  that  legates  had, 
in  the  time  of  popery;  for,  as  the  king's  authority  suc 
ceeded  that  of  the  pope,  so  the  king's  vicegerent  was  the 
same  in  power,  that  the  legates  had  formerly  been."4 
The  instrument  or  patent,  whereby  he  is  empowered  to 
act,  expresses,  that  he  is  constituted  vicar-general ;  that 
he  is  to  preside  over  synods,  chapters,  and  all  such  ec 
clesiastical  assemblies ;  to  reform  both  places  and  per 
sons,  and  punish  those  that  disobey,  by  ecclesiastical 
censures,  pecuniary  mulcts,  or  any  other  method  which 
the  laws  prescribe.5  It  was,  indeed,  a  very  odd  sort  of 
economy,  to  see  a  layman  prompting  and  instructing 

1  Echard,  i.  681.  *  Stat.  26  Hen.  VIII.  c.  3. 

3  Deformi  satis  spectaculo.     Annal.  59.  4  Echard,  i.  683. 

5  The  commission  is  printed  in  Wilkins,  in.  784,  785 ;  in  Burnet,  ii.  Rec. 
273—276 ;  and  in  Collier,  ii.  Rec.  20—22. 


ART.  in.]   THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.      247 

archbishops,  bishops,  &c.,  in  their  synods,  what  and  how 
they  were  to  preach ;  and  what  was  still  more  shocking, 
that  a  person  of  Cromwell's  character  should  be  made 
choice  of,  who  was  known  to  be  a  mortal  enemy  to  all 
churchmen,  and  no  friend  to  religion  in  general.  But 
he  was  a  proper  instrument  for  dirty  work.  Meantime, 
the  convocation  was  obliged  to  submit  tamely  to  all  his 
orders,  being  as  humble  in  their  style  and  behaviour,  as 
they  were  low  in  their  circumstances  ;  and,  if  they  had 
a  mind  to  exercise  their  pastoral  functions,  it  was  to  be 
done  by  way  of  address.  According  to  this  plan, 
they  petitioned,  that  laymen  might  not  be  permit 
ted  to  dispute  about  religion  ;  having  found  of  late,  that 
the  liberty  some  had  taken,  in  this  respect,  was  the  source 
of  several  errors,  and  great  disorders.  Indeed,  it  was 
merry  enough,  that  they,  who  had  surrendered  up  all 
their  power  to  the  laity,  should  pretend  to  prescribe 
laws  to  them.  By  this  they  seem  to  have  lost  their  me 
mories,  as  well  as  zeal  for  their  order.  But,  as  it  was 
not  an  age  of  consistencies,  we  must  pardon  them,  if 
now  and  then  they  appeared  under  some  infatuation.1 

1  [This  account  of  the  petition,  or  remonstrance,  drawn  up  by  certain  mem 
bers  of  the  convocation,  and  addressed  to  the  bishops,  is  not  strictly  correct.  The 
petitioners,  who  were  the  members  of  the  lower  house,  denounced  a  body  of 
erroneous  propositions,  lately  broached  and  maintained  by  the  reformers ;  they 
complained  of  the  apathy  of  their  episcopal  superiors,  in  neglecting  to  condemn 
the  heterodox  publications  that  were  abroad ;  and  they  concluded  by  intimating 
that  much  mischief  had  been  produced  by  the  unlicensed  preaching  of  indivi 
duals,  whose  morals  were  as  corrupt,  as  their  doctrines  and  opinions  were  un 
sound  (Collier,  ii.  119 — 121).  Of  the  effect  of  this  petition,  and  of  the  conse 
quent  proceedings  of  the  convocation,  the  reader  will  be  informed  in  a  subse 
quent  article. 

There  is  another  subject,  which,  though  unnoticed  by  Dodd,  deserves  to  be 
mentioned  in  this  place.  With  the  possession  of  the  title,  Henry  was  resolved 
to  unite  the  exercise  of  the  authority,  of  spiritual  head;  and  when  Cromwell, 
therefore,  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  vice-gerent,  or  vicar-general,  he  was 
commissioned,  not  only  to  preside  over  the  deliberations  of  the  clergy,  but  also 
to  visit  them,  by  himself  or  by  his  deputies,  in  their  several  churches,  to  enquire 
into  their  lives  and  conduct,  to  convoke  synods,  and  to  issue  injunctions  for  the 
reformation  of  abuses,  for  the  punishment  of  offenders,  and  for  the  "  due  admi 
nistration  of  justice  in  all  cases  touching  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction."  It 
was  evident,  that  the  performance  of  these  duties  would  be  incompatible  with 
the  existence  of  an  independent  authority  in  the  bishops.  To  meet  the  diffi 
culty,  Henry,  in  the  exercise  of  his  supremacy,  wrote  to  the  archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York,  ordering  them  to  inform  the  other  prelates  and  ordinaries 
of  the  kingdom,  that  he  was  about  to  make  a  general  visitation  of  the  clergy, 
and  that,  until  the  close  of  that  visitation,  their  powers  were  wholly  suspended. 


248  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

The  king  all  this  while  was  contriving  how  to  reap  an 
advantage  from  his  supremacy,  and  set  several  projects 
a-foot.  Among  others,  that  was  most  taken  notice  of, 
and  struck  a  terror  into  a  great  many,  when  he  ordered 
a  list  of  the  revenues  of  the  clergy  and  religious  to  be 
laid  before  him.1  His  friends  pretended,  it  was  only  to 
become  better  acquainted  with  the  advantages  and  pro- 

Cromwell  now  prepared,  by  his  deputies,  to  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office. 
But  the  rumour  of  the  intended  proceeding  had  already  called  forth  the  remon 
strances  of  the  bishops ;  the  deputies  began  to  anticipate  the  possible  failure  of 
their  enterprise ;  and,  on  the  24th  of  September,  only  six  days  after  the  date  of 
Henry's  mandate  to  the  archbishops,  Leigh  and  Ap  Rice,  two  of  the  vicege 
rent's  delegates,  found  it  necessary  to  address  their  master  on  the  subject.  The 
letter,  which  they  wrote  on  that  occasion,  is  still  preserved.  Having  expressed 
their  fears  "  that  the  bishops  will  be  in  hand"  with  the  king's  representative, 
"  touching  the  inhibitions,"  they  proceed  to  urge  the  policy  of  persisting  in  the 
intended  measure,  and  suspending  the  ordinary  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the 
country  for  an  indefinite  period.  If  the  bishops  claim  their  powers  of  divine 
right,  let  them  produce  their  evidence :  if  they  take  them  as  a  benefit  of  the 
king's  highness,  let  them  sue  for  them  again,  by  supplication.  The  first  they 
will  be  unable  to  accomplish :  the  second  will  be  a  practical  acknowledgment 
of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  crown  ;  and  the  world  will  then  be  taught  to  re 
gard  his  majesty  as  the  spring-head,  and  fountain  of  all  jurisdiction  (Strype, 
Mem.  i.  Append.  144,  145).  This  reasoning  decided  the  question.  The  arch 
bishops,  who  had  hitherto  forborne  to  issue  the  royal  notice,  at  length  published 
it  to  their  suffragans  (October  2);  and  the  bishops,  unable  to  obtain  a  reversal 
of  the  sentence,  were  compelled  to  petition  the  king  for  the  restoration  of  their 
powers.  Henry's  object  was  now  achieved.  To  each  prelate  a  commission  was 
immediately  issued,  appointing  him  the  king's  deputy,  and  authorizing  him,  in 
that  capacity,  to  exercise  his  spiritual  jurisdiction  during  the  royal  pleasure.  He 
was  empowered,  in  the  king's  name,  to  examine  and  ordain  persons  born  within 
his  diocese,  to  admit  them  to  livings,  to  receive  proof  of  wills,  to  grant  adminis 
tration  of  effects,  to  decide  causes  belonging  to  the  cognizance  of  the  ecclesias 
tical  courts,  to  enforce  the  operation  of  the  law  by  canonical  punishments,  and 
to  do  "  whatever  was  necessary  for  the  proper  execution  of  the  premises,  besides 
those  things,  which,  according  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,  were  committed  by  God 
to  his  superintendence."  He  was,  however,  to  bear  in  mind,  that  the  authority, 
thus  entrusted  to  him,  belonged  of  right  to  the  prerogative  of  the  crown  ;  and  that 
he  was  now  permitted  to  use  it,  on  behalf  of  his  sovereign,  only  because  the  king's 
vicegerent,  to  whose  office  it  was  originally  attached,  was  "prevented,  by  the 
multiplicity  of  his  affairs,  from  exercising  it  efficiently  himself. — See  a  copy  of 
one  of  these  instruments,  together  with  the  mandate  of  Henry  and  the  circular 
letter  of  Cranmer,  in  Wilkins,  i,  797,  798.  Of  the  dates  at  which  the  commis 
sions,  containing  the  restoration  of  episcopal  powers,  were  issued,  a  few  only 
have  been  preserved.  From  them,  however,  it  would  appear,  that  the  bishops 
were  not  all  equally  forward  to  surrender  the  independence  of  their  order. 
Cranmer's  commission  was  dated  in  October,  and  was,  probably,  the  first.  York 
and  Lincoln  followed  on  the  thirteenth,  Hereford  on  the  fourteenth,  and  Lon 
don  on  the  nineteenth,  of  the  same  month.  Winchester  is  only  said  to  have 
been  granted  "  in  the  same  year;"  but  Durham  is  known  not  to  have  been 
issued  until  the  tenth  of  November.  Yale  apud  Harmer,  52 ;  Wilk.  ib. — TV] 
1  Collier,  ii.  95. 


ART.  in.]   THE  POPE'S  SUPREMACY  RENOUNCED.      249 

fits  of  his  new  title ;  but  observing  men  believed  it  to 
be  what  it  really  was,  to  give  himself  an  inviting  pros 
pect  of  the  abbey-]  ands,  the  dissolution  whereof  I  shall 
give  an  account  of,  in  the  next  article.  In  the  mean 
time,  I  will  only  add,  that,  though  the  generality  of  the 
people,  both  laity,  bishops,  and  abbots,  went  into  the 
court  measures,  and  subscribed  to  the  king's  spiritual 
supremacy,  yet  a  great  many  stood  off,  who  were  im 
prisoned,  and  several  of  them  suffered  death,  according 
to  the  penalty  expressed  by  the  act.  The  most  remark 
able  persons,  that  died  upon  this  account,  were,  John 
Fisher,  bishop  of  Rochester,  and  sir  Thomas  More,  the 
late  lord  chancellor,  of  whom  an  account  will  be  given 
in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work. 

I  will  conclude  this  account  of  the  supremacy,  with 
a  word  or  two  concerning  a  mistake  of  several  Pro 
testant  lawyers,  who  pretend,  that  king  Henry  VIII. 
did  not  assume  unto  himself  any  more  ecclesiastical 
power,  than  what  had  been  claimed  and  practised  by 
his  predecessors,  in  former  days,  both  under  the  British, 
Saxon,  and  Norman  periods.  The  famous  lawyer,  Sir 
Edward  Coke,  undertakes  to  prove  this  point,  in  the 
5th  part  of  his  Reports,  and  is  seconded  by  Mr.  Prynn, 
who,  in  the  years  1665,  and  1666,  published  two  folios, 
to  which  he  prefixes  the  following  title,  An  Exact 
Chronological  and  Historical  Demonstration  of  our 
British,  fyc.  Kings'  Supreme  Ecclesiastical  Jurisdic 
tion.  The  arguments  these  authors  make  use  of  are 
distinctly  answered  by  father  Persons,  in  a  work  pur 
posely  written  to  discuss  that  point,  and  by  Mr.  Collier, 
who,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  undertakes  to 
demonstrate  the  inconclusiveness  of  all  the  facts  pro 
duced  by  Sir  Edward  Coke ; *  and  concerning  Mr. 
Prynn,  Anthony  Wood,  speaking  of  his  works,  says, 
"  In  most  of  them  he  shows  great  industry,  but  little 
judgment,  especially  in  his  large  folios,  against  the 
pope's  usurpations."2  The  little  judgment,  he  and 
others  show  upon  this  occasion,  appears  from  hence, 

1  Collier,  ii.  92—94.  2  Athen.  Oxon.  ii.  439. 


250  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

that  they  make  all  the  controversies  between  the  see  of 
Rome  and  the  kings  of  England  capital,  and  do  not 
distinguish  between  civil  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction, 
nor  between  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  that  belongs  to 
faith,  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  that  regards  dis 
cipline  only.  It  plainly  appears,  from  the  story  of  those 
times,  that  the  debates  between  the  popes  and  kings  of 
England  were  concerning  the  right  of  patronage,  inves 
titures,  sanctuary,  exemptions  from  taxes  and  courts  of 
civil  judicature,  excommunications  upon  civil  accounts, 
admitting  legates,  and  appealing  to  Rome,  in  the  cases 
above-mentioned,  where  both  parties  produced  custom 
against  custom,  and  laws  against  laws.  But  as  for 
a  supreme  spiritual  jurisdiction,  wilich  consists  in 
redressing  and  correcting  errors  and  heresies,  and  pro 
nouncing  upon  matters  of  faith,  it  was  a  power  never 
practised,  nor  so  much  as  ever  thought  of,  by  the  kings 
of  England,  in  former  days.  King  Henry  VIII.  was 
the  first  that  ever  gave  leave  to  bishops  to  exercise 
jurisdiction,  without  being  approved  of  at  Rome,  the 
first  that  ever  stiled  himself  head  of  the  church,  and 
the  first  that  ever  made  it  treason  to  refuse  him  that 
title. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  251 


ARTICLE  IV. 


MONASTERIES    DISSOLVED. — MONASTIC     LANDS    A     TEMPTATION     TO    THE    AVA 
RICE    OF    THE    KING COMPLAINTS    AGAINST    THE    MONKS VISITATION    OF 

THE    RELIGIOUS     HOUSES — CALUMNIES     AGAINST    THE     RELIGIOUS "  THE 

SUPPLICATION     OF     BEGGARS" — PROCEEDINGS     OF    THE    VISITORS DISSO 
LUTION    OF    LESSER    MONASTERIES — CONSEQUENCES     OF    THIS    MEASURE 

INSURRECTION    IN    THE    NORTH IT    IS    SUPPRESSED HENRY     IS    ENCOU 
RAGED    TO    PROCEED    TO     FARTHER    AGGRESSIONS DISSOLUTION    OF    THE 

GREATER      MONASTERIES PROVISION      FOR      THE     RELIGIOUS  — MONASTIC 

LANDS    SETTLED    ON    THE    KING — COLLIER'S    ACCOUNT    OF    THE  INJURIOUS 

EFFECTS     OF     THIS    DISSOLUTION TO     THE     NOJ3ILITY — TO     THE     NATION 

AT    LARGE TO    THE    FOUNDERS — TO    LITERATURE DECAY     OF    THE    UNI 
VERSITIES OPINIONS     OF     PROTESTANT    WRITERS     ON     THE    ALIENATION 

OF    MONASTIC      LANDS NEW     BISHOPRICS     ERECTED — FARTHER     ALIENA 
TIONS    OF    CHURCH    PROPERTY COLLEGES,    CHANTRIES,    AND    HOSPITALS, 

GIVEN    TO    THE    KING REFLECTIONS. 

"  BISHOP  GODWIN,"  says  Collier,  "  observes,  the  king 
was  strongly  disposed  to  promote  a  reformation,  that 
would  turn  the  penny,  and  furnish  the  exchequer."  l 
He  had  found  the  sweets  of  this  method,  by  bringing 
the  clergy  under  the  lash  of  a  prcemunire ;  and  now 
the  monastic  lands  afforded  him  a  good  opportunity  of 
improving  the  project.  There  had  been  a  discourse  of 
reforming  monasteries,  from  the  time  that  king  Henry 
assumed  the  title  of  head  of  the  church ;  a  very 
laudable  undertaking,  had  either  order,  decency,  or 
measure,  been  observed  in  the  execution.  Frequent 
abuses  had,  for  many  years,  been  complained  of,  which 
seemed  to  plead  in  favour  of  such  an  attempt.  It  had 
been  represented,  that  monasteries  had  engrossed  and 
monopolized  trade,  and  several  manufactures,  especially 
the  profitable  branch  of  hides  arid  leather ;  that  they 
daily  extinguished  the  nobility  and  gentry,  by  pur 
chasing  lands  and  lordships  ;  that  they  had  impove 
rished  the  secular  clergy,  and  made  them  contemptible, 
by  obtaining  impropriations  from  the  see  of  Rome, 

1  Collier,  ii.  149. 


252  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

while  they  took  care  to  be  exempted  from  tithes,,  where 
others  enjoyed  impropriations  ;  finally,  that  they  abused 
the  privilege  of  sanctuary,  and  scandalized  the  nation 
by  their  splendour  and  plenty,  unbecoming  a  religious 
state.  These,  and  such-like  complaints,  had  been  often 
made,  in  former  days  ;  and  though  many  of  the  abuses 
were  redressed  by  civil  and  ecclesiastical  statutes,  yet 
some  of  them,  not  having  been  sufficiently  considered, 
were  a  plausible  pretence  for  thinking  of  a  farther 
reformation.  When  the  matter  was  first  proposed  in 
council,  a  large  majority  were  for  a  reformation,  nay, 
for  reducing  their  number,  according  to  the  direction 
of  the  canons,  and  custom  of  the  church,  where  either 
a  neglect  of  discipline,  or  a  scarcity  of  revenues,  seemed 
to  require  such  a  regulation  ;  but,  as  for  an  undistin 
guished  seizure  of  men's  properties,  it  was  exclaimed 
against,  as  a  scandalous  attempt.1 

The  privy-council  having  sufficiently  debated  the 
point,  it  came  to  this  issue,  that  the  king  might  un 
dertake  what  he  pleased  of  that  kind,  by  the  strength  of 
his  supremacy.  And,  that  things  might  be  carried  on 
with  an  appearance  of  justice  and  regularity,  it  was  de 
creed,  that  there  should  be  a  general  visit  of  all  the 
monasteries  throughout  the  kingdom,  the  whole  to  be 
managed  by  Thomas  Cromwell,  the  king's  vicar-general, 
who,  by  commission,  appointed  a  certain  number  of 
visitors  ;  among  these  some  of  the  chief  were,  Layton, 
Leigh,  London,  Sowell,  Price,  Gage,  Bellasis,  &c.  The 
instrument,  to  be  made  use  of  upon  this  visitation,  con 
sisted  of  eighty-six  articles,  where,  under  the  heads  of 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  an  infinite  number  of 
interrogatories  were  to  be  proposed,  relating  to  their 
constitutions  general  and  particular,  commerce  with  a 
different  sex,  discipline,  revenues,  inventories  of  goods, 
as  plate,  jewels,  writings,  charters,  &c.  Now,  that  this 
visitation  might  go  down  better  with  the  nation,  plau 
sible  reasons  were  handed  about,  to  take  off  the  odious 
part.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  suggested,  that  there 

1  Herb.  424—426. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  253 

was  no  other  way  of  supporting  the  king  in  his  assumed 
supremacy,  than  by  clapping  a  curb  upon  the  mouths 
of  the  religious,  who  were  entirely  the  pope's  creatures ; 
and,  unless  they  were  stripped  of  some  of  their  money,, 
might  be  capable  of  ruffling  the  king's  affairs.  Again, 
it  was  industriously  reported,  that  the  emperor  was  pre 
paring  to  invade  England,  and  that  the  project  now  set 
ting  a-foot  would  enable  the  king  to  defend  himself, 
without  making  any  demand  upon  the  subject.  The 
clergy  were  also  soothed  up ;  that  the  impropriations 
should  be  returned  to  them  again  by  the  monasteries, 
and  that  several  new  bishoprics  should  be  founded 
from  the  monastic  lands.  Then,  to  dispose  the  monks 
themselves  to  favour  the  project,  it  was  whispered  about, 
that  large  pensions  would  be  settled  upon  such  as  came 
willingly  in,  which,  together  with  the  hopes  of  more 
liberty,  were  proper  baits  for  the  corrupted  passions  of 
human  nature.1 

Things  being  thus  disposed,  the  visitors  were  dis 
patched  into  their  respective  circuits,  while  the  poor 
monks  were  ignorant  which  way  they  were  to  be  at 
tacked.  And  though  undiscerning  people  might  be 
imposed  upon  so  far,  as  to  think  that  they  went  upon  a 
good  motive,  yet  considerate  men  might  plainly  discover 
it  was  nothing  but  insatiable  avarice,  that  prompted  the 
courtiers  to  push  the  king  upon  the  undertaking.2  They 
saw  that  he  was  resolutely  bent  upon  maintaining  his 
supremacy,  and  that  nothing  would  conduce  more  to- 

1  Herb.  426,427;     Collier,  ii.    103—107,109;  Burnet,  i.  181.     [Besides 
the  instructions  to  the  visitors,  a  body  of  injunctions,  in  twenty-five  articles, 
was  drawn  up,  and  ordered  to  be  left  at  each  of  the  religious  houses.     Both 
this  and  the  instructions,  which  are  still  preserved  in  the  Cotton  j  Library 
(Cleopat.  E.  iv.  11—25),  have  been  published  by  Wilkins  (Hi.  786— 791),  and 
Burnet  (i.  Rec.  123—132).     The  injunctions  relate  to  the  abolition  of  the  papal, 
and  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  regal,  supremacy ;  to  the  succession  to  the 
crown ;  to  the  revenues  and  internal  discipline  of  the  monastery ;  and  to  the 
discharge  of  the  important  duties  of  hospitality,  and  charity  to  the  poor.     Such 
was  the  disguise,  under  which  Henry  sought  to  conceal  the  rapacity  of  his  in 
tended  proceedings ! — 71] 

2  Si  rein  ipsam  accuratius  expendissent,  aulse  potius  libidinem,  hominumque 
nullum  quaBstui  modum  statuentium  avaritiam,  nominassent,  qui  regem  prop- 
terea,  abolendo  pontificis  Romani  dominatui  intentum,  ad  sodalitia  clericorum 
omnimoda  evertenda,  bonaque  eorum  diripienda,  incitabant :  cui  rei  nihil  magis 
conducere  poterat,  quam  si  patrimonii,  cui  inhiabant,  possessores  fortiter  calum- 
niarentur.     Wood,  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  262. 


254  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

wards  it,  than  seizing  those  pious  foundations,,  and 
nothing  more  plausibly  effect  the  seizure,  than  aspersing 
the  possessors,  and  loading  them  with  calumnies.  To 
this  purpose,  great  pains  were  taken,  all  over  the  king 
dom,  to  ridicule  the  monastic  institution,  and  lay  open 
all  the  abuses  it  was  capable  of:  ignorance,  sloth,  las- 
civiousness,  avarice,  superstition,  and  frauds  of  all  kinds, 
were  the  common  heads  of  reproach,  and  subject  of 
table-talk,  and  daily  lampoons,  in  order  to  depreciate 
that  way  of  life.  How  far  some  were  transported  with 
this  humour,  appears  from  the  invective  of  a  witty  athe 
istical  lawyer,  whose  name  was  Fish,  who  published  a 
virulent  book  against  all  churchmen  in  general ;  but 
most  especially  he  attacks  the  monks,  whom  he  repre 
sents  as  if  they  were  the  cause  of  all  the  poverty  in  the 
nation  :  and,  upon  this  account,  he  gives  his  book  the 
title  of  The  Supplication  of  Beggars.  It  is  hard  to  de 
termine,  whether  the  language  or  matter  is  more  scan 
dalous.  He  paints  out  all  the  bishops,  deans,  arch 
deacons,  priests,  monks,  friars,  &c.,  as  a  herd  of  lazy 
drones,  that  devour  the  king's  lands  ;  that  they  are  the 
occasion  of  all  the  taxes,  of  beggary  at  home,  and  want 
of  success  abroad ;  that  they  excommunicate,  absolve, 
&c.,  merely  for  gain  ;  that  they  debauch  the  wives, 
daughters,  and  servants  of  the  wrhole  kingdom;  that  they 
are  thieves,  highwaymen,  ravenous  wolves,  and  cormo 
rants  ;  that  he  hopes  the  king  will  take  it  into  conside 
ration  to  have  them  reduced,  tied  to  a  cart,  whipped, 
turned  adrift,  and  entirely  demolished,  as  enemies  to  his 
state  and  to  all  mankind.  Had  the  devil  been  employed 
in  the  work,  he  could  not  have  made  an  apology  more 
suitable  to  the  times ;  for  though  the  book  was  levelled 
against  religion  in  general,  and  had  the  visible  marks  of 
iniquity  stamped  upon  it,  yet,  such  was  the  humour  of 
king  Henry's  days,  that,  when  it  was  offered  to  him  by 
Anne  Boleyn  as  an  ingenious  performance,  it  was  read 
at  court  with  singular  pleasure,  and  many  hints  taken 
from  it,  in  order  to  promote  the  cause  in  hand.1 

1  [This  is  the  unsupported  account  of  Foxe,  who  is  followed,  of  course,  by 
Burnet(i.  154):  Collier,  however,  more  truly  informs  us,  that  the  publication 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  255 

But  to  proceed  in  the  account  of  the  visitation.  The 
chief  managers  of  this  affair  did  not  design  to  take  their 
plan  from  lampoons  and  general  invectives  ;  they  were 
resolved  to  go  seriously  to  work,  and  draw  up  their 
charge  from  facts  and  authentic  informations.  But  we 
have  reason  to  think,  they  proceeded  with  as  little  can 
dour  and  truth,  in  their  particular  scrutiny  and  repre 
sentation,  as  Mr.  Fish  had  done  in  his  general  accusa 
tion.  "  That  the  narratives  of  this  kind,"  says  Collier, 
"  were  swelled  beyond  truth  and  proportion,  may  well 
be  suspected,  from  the  mercenary  temper  of  some  of  the 
visitors. . .  .  Besides,  that  several  of  the  religious  houses 
had  a  fair  reputation,  appears  from  authentic  records."1 
Mr.  Fuller,  in  his  Church  History,  is  so  just  to  the  reli 
gious  houses  in  general,  as  to  discredit  those  vulgar  and 
popular  reports,  and  calumnies,  wherewith  they  were 
aspersed.  "  I  cannot  believe,"  says  he,  "  what  is  com 
monly  told  of  under-ground  vaults,  leading  from  friaries 
to  nunneries,  confuted  by  the  situation  of  the  place, 
through  rocks  improbable,  and  under  rivers  impossible, 
to  be  conveyed. . . .  More  improbable  it  is,  what  is  gene- 

of  this  and  other  similar  pamphlets  was,  in  fact,  the  immediate  cause  of  a  proclama 
tion,  forbidding,  under  severe  penalties,  the  importation  or  printing  of  "  any 
book,  contrary  to  the  received  doctrine  of  the  church"  (ii.  48).  The  "  Suppli 
cation  "  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XL.  It  was  written,  or,  at  least, 
published,  about  1528;  and,  in  the  following  year,  was  answered  by  Sir 
Thomas  More,  in  a  small  work,  entitled  "  The  Supplication  of  Souls,"  which 
may  be  seen  at  page  288  of  More's  collected  works.  The  book  really  presented 
by  AnneBoleyn  to  Henry,  and  approved,  or  rather  said  to  have  been  approved, 
by  the  latter  (for  it  was  really  condemned,  with  his  sanction,  in  the  con 
vocation  of  1530),  was  Tyndale's  "  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man."  Strype, 
Mem,  i.  112. 

Before  I  close  this  note,  I  ought  to  observe,  that,  on  the  appearance  of  his 
history,  Dodd  was  blamed,  first,  for  having  published  "the  Supplication"  at  all, 
and,  secondly,  for  having  published  it  without  the  accompaniment  of  More's 
reply.  lam  not  sure  that  the  charges  deserve  much  notice :  atall  events,  his  own  an 
swer  to  each  will  sufficiently  vindicate  him.  "  The  first,"  says  he — why  he  published 
the  supplication? — "  was  asked  me  by  a  particular  friend,  but  not  by  way  of  re 
proach.  The  answer  I  gave  was,  that  it  was  so  exact  a  description  of  the 
humour  of  those  times,  and  so  exposed  the  vile  notions  of  those  that  aimed  at  a 
reformation,  that  I  thought  it  would  not  be  unseasonable,  nor  much  amiss,  to 
give  it  at  full.  As  to  your  second  question" — why  he  omitted  More's  reply  ? — 
"  a  protestant  gentleman,  who  read  it  over  in  my  hearing,  said,  there  was  no 
occasion  of  a  reply,  by  way  of  antidote,  from  any  catholic ;  it  being  a  lampoon 
against  virtue  and  religion  in  general,  and  answered  itself." — Apology  for 
Ch.  Hist.  84,  85.— r.] 

1  Collier,  ii.  155. 


256  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

rally  reported,  that  abbots  made  provisions  for  their 
lusts  on  their  leases,  enjoining  their  tenants  to  furnish 
them  (as  with  wood  and  coal,  so)  with  fuel  for  their 
wantonness.  A  reverend  divine  [Mr.  Stephen  Marshall] 
hath  informed  me,  that  he  hath  seen  such  a  passage  on 
a  lease  of  the  abbey  of  Essex,  where  the  lessee  was  en 
joined  yearly  to  provide  unam  claram  et  lepidam  puel- 
lam  ad purgandos  renes  Domini  Abbatls.  It  was  never 
my  hap  to  behold  any  instrument  with  such  a  lustful 
clause,  or  wanton  reservation  therein,  and  [I]  shall 
hardly  be  induced  to  believe  it."1  Again,  whereas  a 
scandalous  list  may  be  met  with  in  some  authors,  and 
in  Mr.  Speed  particularly,  of  sodomitical  monks,  and 
such  as  kept  whores,  and  were  detected  and  convicted 
upon  the  visitation,  Mr.  Fuller  rejects  it  as  a  forged 
piece.  "  I  find,"  says  he,  "  this  catalogue  only  in  the 
third  edition  of  Speed,  proving  it  a  posthumous  ad 
dition  after  the  author's  death ;  attested  in  the  mar 
gin  with  the  authority  of  Henry  Stephen  his  apology 
for  Herodotus,  who  took  the  same  out  of  an  English 
book,  containing  The  Vileness  discovered  at  the  Visita 
tion  of  Monasteries.  Thus,  this  being  but  the  report  of 
a  foreigner,  and  the  original  at  home  not  appearing, 
many  justly  abate  in  their  belief  of  the  fall  latitude  of 
this  report.  Indeed,  tradition  is  the  only  author  of 
many  stories  in  this  nature."2  Howrever,  if  it  be  true 
what  the  same  author  reports,  as  to  the  method  observed 
in  the  visitation  of  the  monasteries,  I  should  not  wonder 
if  the  monks  were  represented  as  guilty  of  such  kind  of 
enormities  and  scandalous  facts.  For  the  "  visitors  were 
succeeded  with  a  second  sort  of  public  agents,  but  work 
ing  in  a  more  private  way,  encouraging  the  members  in 
monasteries  to  impeach  one  another.  For,  seeing  there 
was  seldom  such  general  agreement  in  any  great  con 
vent,  but  that  factions  were  found,  and  parties  did  ap 
pear  therein,  these  emissaries  made  an  advantageous  use 
thereof. .  many,  being  accused,  did  recriminate  their  ac 
cusers,  and,  hopeless  to  recover  their  own  innocency, 

1  Church  Hist.  317,318.  2  Ibid.  317. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED  257 

pleased  themselves  by  plunging  others  in  the  like  guil 
tiness.  Yea,  some  hold,,  that,  as  witches,  long  tortured 
with  watching  and  fasting,  and  pinched  when  but  ready 
to  nod,  are  contented  causelessly  to  accuse  themselves, 
to  be  eased  of  the  present  pain ;  so  some  of  these  poor 
souls,  frightened  with  menaces,  and  fearing  what  might 
be  the  success,  acknowledged  all,  and  more  than  all, 
against  themselves/'1  By  these  and  such  like  methods, 
were  the  monasteries  brought  into  disrepute,  and  the 
way  prepared  for  their  dissolution.  They  had  also  se 
veral  ways,  as  Fuller  takes  notice,  to  render  the  nuns 
obnoxious,  as  well  as  the  monks.  Lewd  young  men 
were  privately  set  on,  to  excite  them  to  wickedness, 
and  make  attempts  upon  their  virtue ;  and  this  pur 
posely  to  turn  informers,  if  there  happened  to  be  any 
familiarity,  or  indiscretion,  that  might  be  the  ground  of 
an  accusation  ;  whereof  one  single  instance  was  sufficient 
to  blast  the  reputation  of  a  whole  convent,  and  so  their 
business  wras  done.2  Where  these  tricks  wrere  played, 
"  it  may  be  feared,"  says  Heylin,  "  that  God  was  not  in 
that  great  and  terrible  wind,  which  threw  down  so  many 
monasteries  and  religious  houses  in  the  reign  of  Henry 

VIII The  offences  of  the  religious  were  represented 

in  such  multiplying-glasses,  as  made  them  seem  both 
greater  in  number,  and  more  horrid  in  nature,  than  in 
deed  they  were."3 

Besides  the  charge  of  immorality,  the  monks  were 
represented  as  impostors,  and  that  they  seduced  the 
people,  by  false  miracles,  and  strange  operations,  per 
formed  by  images,  relics,  crosses,  &c.,  of  which  some 
account  is  given  by  our  historians  ;  but  this  being  a 
common  topic  of  reproach  against  the  church  of  Rome, 
it  does  not  seem  particularly  to  affect  the  monasteries. 
And  "  whether  the  impostures  above-mentioned  are 

1  Fuller,  314. 

2  Ibid.  315.     [It  is  right  to  add,  that  this  is  not  distinctly  acknowledged  by 
Fuller,  though  he  ventures  not  to  contradict  it.     He  mentions  it  as  a  fact,  of 
which  "the  papists  do  heavily  complain  (how  justly  God  alone  knoweth);"  and 
he  concludes  his  account  of  it,  by  calling  it  " a  damnable  act,  if  true" 
Ibid.— T.-] 

3  Hist.  Reform.  252,  262. 

VOL  I.  S 


258  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI, 

matter  of  fact,  will  be  a  question  ;  for  William  Thomas, 
cited  by  the  lord  Herbert,  is  somewhat  an  exceptionable 
authority  :  he  wrote  the  book  called  //  Pelerine  Inglese, 
in  justification  of  king  Henry's  proceedings  ;  but,  by  the 
account  he  gives  of  archbishop  Becket,  it  is  plain  he 
was  either  biassed,  or  grossly  mistaken." 1 

After  all,  it  cannot  be  denied,  but  that  there  must 
have  been  several  abuses  among  so  vast  a  number  of 
people  ;  and  it  is  no  less  manifest,  that  the  monks  had 
riot  fair  play  at  the  visitation,  some  of  the  visitors  being 
convicted,  and  punished,  which  gave  a  lustre  to  the 
proceedings  of  others,  who  were  no  less  guilty  of  mis 
representation,  as  I  have  already  made  it  appear,  and 
could  produce  many  instances  to  confirm  it.  But  it 
was  not  policy  to  punish  too  many  delinquents  on  that 
score,  lest  the  king  should  be  deprived  of  one  of  the 
principal  inducements  for  making  a  seizure  of  the  mo 
nastic  lands. 

When  the  visit  was  over,  -and  the  particulars  laid 
before  the  parliament,  it  quickly  appeared  on  which 
side  the  scales  would  fall.  The  state  of  the  religious 
houses  was  so  represented,  that  many  thought  it  con 
venient  that  there  should  be  some  kind  of  reformation ; 
and  those,  that  were  convinced  of  the  visitors'  unfair 
dealing,  had  not  courage  to  oppose  the  court  measures, 
the  king  being  violently  bent  upon  having  the  project 
take  effect.  It  was  resolved,  therefore,  that  there 
should  be,  not  only  a  reformation,  but  a  dissolution,  not 
of  all  the  monasteries,  but  only  of  those  whose  annual 
MAR.  rents  were  under  the  clear  value  of  200/. ;  and 
153(3-  an  act  passed  accordingly,  which,  notwithstand 
ing,  was  liable  to  great  abuses,  it  lying  in  the  breast  of 
the  commissioners  to  make  an  estimate  of  their  reve 
nues,  and  who  are  thought  to  have  abused  their  power, 
in  undervaluing  many  convents,  and,  by  this  means, 
bringing  them  within  the  reach  of  the  law  for  a  dissolu 
tion.  I  do  not  find  that  any  remarkable  opposition 
was  made,  by  any  of  the  members  of  parliament,  to  this 

1  Collier,  ii.  1 19.    Herb.  495,  496. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  259 

act : l  one  zealous  speech,  indeed,  I  meet  with,  which 
some  have  ignorantly  attributed  to  bishop  Fisher,  who 
was  beheaded  in  1535,  whereas  this  act  passed  not  the 
votes  of  the  house,  till  the  year  1536.  The  author  of 
this  speech  against  a  dissolution,  puts  the  members  of 
the  house  in  mind,  that  they  were  the  guardians  of  the 
people's  liberties,  especially  of  the  church  ;  that  they 
ought  to  be  careful  not  to  pass  an  act,  which  might 
scandalize  the  whole  Christian  world,  and  administer 
occasion  to  posterity  to  curse  what  their  ancestors  had 
done  ;  that  such  a  seizure  would  be  a  precedent  for 
invading  every  subject's  private  property  ;  that  religious 
houses,  which  were  the  glory  of  former  ages,  would 
become  the  ignominy  of  the  present  age  ;  that  cutting 
off  rotten  branches  was  only  a  pretence,  religion  being 
the  main  thing  struck  at ;  that  it  was  an  unheard-of 
proceeding,  that  particular  transgressions  should  be 
punished  with  extirpation ;  that  there  were  statutes 
enough,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  for  reforming  mo 
nasteries,  and  why  wfere  they  not  put  in  execution  ? 
that  reformation  sounded  well,  but  the  game,  some  were 
in  pursuit  of,  was  licentiousness,  plunder,  rapine,  and 
sacrilege,  a  lesson  they  had  been  taught  by  Wycliife, 
Huss,  and  Luther ;  that,  if  monasteries  had  been  poor, 
their  morals  would  have  stood  the  test ;  and  that  the 
riches  of  the  ecclesiastical  body  were  the  greatest  crimes 
they  had  to  charge  them  with  ;  that  the  lesser  monas 
teries  only  were  marked  out  for  destruction  by  the  act, 
but  they  would  find,  in  a  little  time,  that  the  greater 
would  meet  with  the  same  fate  ;  that  he  hoped  the  king 
had  better  thoughts  of  the  matter,  than  those  giddy 
heads  that  promoted  it.  Then  he  concludes,  that  a 
debate  of  this  nature  would  be  more  becoming  an 
assembly  of  Turks,  than  a  Christian  parliament.2 

It  wras  neither  this,  nor  any  such  like  speeches,  that 

1  [Spelman,  however,  assures  us,  that  the  commons  refused  to  sanction  it,  until 
intimidated  by  the  threats  of  Henry.     Having  sent  for  the  members,  the  tyrant 
informed  them,  that  they  must  pass  the  bill,  or  he  would  take  off  the  heads  of  its 
chief  opponents.— Hist,  of  Sacrilege,  183.— r.] 

2  [In  the  former  edition  of  Dodd,  this  speech  is  printed  at  length,  among  the 
records,  and  said  to  be  taken  from  "  The  Life  of  Bishop  Fisher."     In  that  work, 

S  2 


260  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

were  capable  of  influencing  the  parliament  against 
passing  the  act.  "  In  the  preamble,  there  is  a  high 
charge  of  immorality  laid  against  the  lesser  abbeys. 
This  is  grounded  upon  the  report  of  the  visitors,  and 
rests  chiefly  upon  their  credit.  And  here  the  larger 
abbeys  have  the  commendation  of  a  regular  behaviour. 
The  preamble  takes  notice,  farther,  that  there  is  a  neces 
sity  of  transplanting  the  monks  of  these  little  societies; 
and,  without  removing  them  to  more  numerous  con 
vents,  their  reformation  was  impracticable.  Now  it  is 
somewhat  strange,  discipline  should  be  most  insignifi 
cant  where  there  are  fewest  to  be  governed,  and  infect 
the  rest ;  and  that  no  regulation  could  be  of  force 
enough  to  keep  a  few  people  within  compass.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  authority  of  this  preamble,  one  would 
have  thought  the  greater  monasteries  would  have  been 
more  difficultly  managed.  But  these,  the  act  tells  us, 
were  regular  enough,  and  answered  the  ends  of  their 
institution." ]  Fuller  takes  the  freedom  to  fancy  there 
was  something  of  finesse  in  this  commendation.  The 
lesser  abbeys,  he  believes,  could  not  be  suppressed 
without  the  votes  of  the  greater ;  for,  of  these  latter, 
there  were  no  less  than  twenty-six  mitred  barons,  who 
sat  in  the  house  of  lords.2  It  was  prudence,  there 
fore,  to  lay  the  apprehensions  of  these  abbots  asleep, 
arid  prevent  their  suspicion  of  falling  under  the  same 
fate.  And  thus  three  hundred  and  seventy-six  of  these 
"  ancient  monuments  of  devotion,"  as  lord  Herbert 
calls  them,3  were  discorporated  and  dissolved,  a  yearly 
revenue  of  32,000/.  accrued  to  the  exchequer,  and  the 
goods  and  chattels,  at  a  low  valuation,  amounted  to 
100,000/.  However,  the  enriching  the  crown  this  way 
did  not  give  a  general  satisfaction  ;  for  no  less  than 
10,000  persons  were  sent  into  the  world  unfurnished, 
and  in  a  manner  undone,  by  this  expedient.  But  to 

however,  no  such  speech  occurs;  nor  do  I  remember  to  have  met  with  it  in  any 
other  of  the  publications  which  I  have  consulted.     As  it  is  certainly  entitled  to 
no  authority,  and  contains  no  historical  information,  I  have  omitted  it. — T.~\ 
1  Collier,  ii.  1 14.     See  Appendix,  No.  XLI.  2  Ch.  Hist.  312. 

3  P.  441. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  261 

remove  this  general  discontent,  the  politic  Cromwell 
advised  the  king  to  sell  these  lands,  at  very  easy  rates, 
to  the  nobility  and  gentry,  and  to  oblige  them  to  retain 
the  wonted  hospitality,  which  would  be  both  grateful 
to  them,  and  engage  them  to  assist  the  crown  in  all  the 
late  alterations,  and  would  be  pleasing  to  the  people, 
when  they  found  the  old  hospitality  preserved.  And 
upon  a  clause  in  the  act,  empowering  the  king  to  found 
anew  such  houses  as  he  should  think  fit,  there  were 
fifteen  monasteries  and  sixteen  nunneries,  which  were 
more  regular  than  the  rest,  refounded,  or  rather 
reprieved,  till  the  general  dissolution  came  afterwards.1 
There  was  no  room  for  apologies  or  remonstrances, 
in  favour  of  the  party  under  oppression.  Arguments 
are  little  regarded,  when  things  are  carried  on  by  a 
power  without  appeal ;  and  those,  that  have  the  power, 
are  never  at  a  loss  for  reasons  to  palliate  their  proceed 
ings,  and  set  every  thing  in  the  best  light.  And  Cromwell, 
the  grand  projector  of  the  design,  took  some  pains  that 
way.  "He  said,  the  driving  the  monks  out  of  the 
cloister,  was  only  returning  them  to  labour,  and  a  lay 
character,  which  was  no  more  than  their  first  business 
and  pretension.  As  for  the  rules  of  their  institution, 
and  their  particular  austerities  enjoined  them,  he  pre 
tended,  they  might  practice  all  this  discipline  and  self- 
denial,  without  the  forms  of  monastic  confinement. 
But  this  way  of  talking  looked  like  superficial  and  mer 
cenary  reasoning,  in  the  opinion  of  other  persons  of 
learning  and  thought." 2  He  must  be  an  entire  stranger 
to  the  corruptions  of  human  nature,  who  imagines  it  can 
be  kept  within  bounds,  without  some  outward  restraint; 
or  that  either  civil  or  religious  duties  can  be  com 
plied  with,  without  such  a  provision.  It  is  an  idle  spe- 

1  Burnet,  i.  213,  214;  Rec.  133,  134.     [Stevens,  however,  has  published  an 
original  paper,  containing  the  names  of  the  lesser  monasteries  which  escaped 
immediate  destruction,  specifying  the  individuals  to  whom  they  had  been  granted, 
and  distinguishing  such  of  the  houses  as  had  actually  been  refounded,  when  the 
paper  was  drawn  up.     From  this  it  appears,  that  the  whole  number  respited 
was  one  hundred  and  twenty-three.     Forty-six  had  already  been  refounded ; 
five  were  still  doubtful;  and  of  these,  no  less  than  thirty-three  had  previously 
been  promised  by  the  king  to  different  persons.     Monast.  ii.  Append.   17 — 
19.— TV) 

2  Collier,  ii.  180. 


262  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

culation,  to  fancy  that  the  essentials  of  a  monastic  state 
can  be  practised,  with  any  profit  or  edification,  where 
monastic  rules  are  neglected,  much  less  when  they  are 
abolished. 

In  the  next  place,  we  are  to  attend  to  the  conse 
quences  of  this  dissolution,  when  the  act  came  to  be  put 
in  execution ;  how  it  was  relished  by  the  people,  and 
what  resentment  they  showed,  upon  the  occasion.  By 
way  of  restitution,  some  kind  of  provision  was  made  for 
those  poor  creatures,  that  were  turned  out  of  doors. 
Men  were  furnished  with  a  clergyman's  coat  and  forty 
shillings,  women  with  a  decent  gown,  and  liberty  either 
to  enter  into  some  greater  monastery,  or  starve  at  dis 
cretion.1  This  indulgence  opened  a  gap  for  all  sorts  of 
licentiousness  ;  and  those  of  both  sexes  respectively, 
that  wrere  not  virtuously  inclined,  or  had  not  courage 
to  look  poverty  in  the  face,  were  in  a  fair  way  of  robbing 
on  the  high-way,  or  prostituting  themselves  for  bread. 
The  bishops  and  clergy,  all  this  while,  were  at  a  kind  of 
non-plus,  how  they  were  to  behave  themselves.  They 
had,  indeed,  hitherto  gone  into  all  the  court-measures, 
even  this  last  project  of  the  dissolution  of  religious 
houses,  in  which  they  had  been  flattered  by  some  ex 
pectations  ;  but  then  they  were  in  hopes,  that  the  rights 
of  the  church  would  have  been  more  regarded ;  and, 
therefore,  when  this  project  was  first  talked  of,  they 
offered  reasons  against  secularizing  the  abbey  lands,  and 
that  they  might  be  converted  to  other  spiritual  uses,  and 
transferred  to  schools,  hospitals,  colleges,  &c.,  which 
they  took  to  be  the  design  of  the  act,  confirmed  by  the 
king's  promise,  and  which  was  the  usual  and  canonical 
way  of  proceeding,  in  former  ages,  when  there  hap 
pened  to  be  an  occasion  of  breaking  into  any  pious 
establishment.  But  alas !  the  ecclesiastical  body  had 
neither  interest,  nor  courage,  to  pursue  this  scheme. 
They  were  themselves  still  apprehensive  of  a  farther 
humiliation.  They  had  tithes,  glebe-lands,  impropria- 
tions,  and  many  other  advantages,  still  to  lose,  and  did 

1  Herb.  427. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  263 

not  know  but  the  present  ministry  had  a  design  entirely 
to  strip  all  churchmen,  and  reduce  them  to  a  precarious 
dependence.  This  made  them  slacken  their  zeal,  and 
be  very  circumspect,  in  what  they  said,  or  acted,  in 
favour  of  the  monasteries. 

But  if  the  bishops  and  clergy  thought  it  prudence  to 
sit  down  in  silence,  it  was  not  so  with  a  great  many 
others,  who  became  desperate,  and  were  resolved  to 
throw  away  their  lives  after  their  liberties.  They  con 
ceived  themselves  to  be  injured,  in  several  branches  of 
their  property,  if  a  supreme  power  can  be  said  to  do  any 
injury.  Families,  whose  ancestors  had  been  founders  of 
monasteries,  were  deprived  of  the  reserved  rights  and 
privileges  ;  the  poor,  who  were  daily  relieved,  knew  riot 
how  to  support  themselves  ;  and  the  monks,  who  were 
actually  thrown  out  of  possession  of  what  they  looked 
upon  to  be  a  kind  of  birth-right,  had  a  thousand  motives 
to  exasperate  their  minds,  and  make  them  seek  for  a 
redress.1  But  what  had  the  greatest  influence  upon 
them  was,  an  apprehension  of  a  total  subversion  of  the 
religion  of  their  country  ;  for  it  was  visible  to  them,  that 
some,  who  had  the  king's  ear,  were  bending  their  en 
deavours  that  way.  We  may  truly  say,  that  the  whole 
kingdom  was  very  uneasy  upon  this  account ;  but  only 
some  of  the  northern  counties  had  the  courage  to  draw 
their  swords,  and  make  a  stand.  They  were  first  headed 
by  Robert  Aske,2  a  gentleman  of  considerable  substance 

1  Furnet,  i.  213,  217. 

2  [The  rising  under  Aske  had  been  preceded  by  that  of  the  men  of  Lincoln 
shire.     Headed  by  Makerel,  abbot  of  Barlings,  who  had  assumed  the  name  of 
Captain  Cobler,  they  assembled,  to  the  number  of  about  twenty  thousand;  and, 
with  an  oath"  to  be  true  to  God,  the  king,  and  the  commonwealth,"  loudly  de 
manded  the  redress  of  their  grievances.     These  grievances  they  embodied  in  a 
remonstrance,  and  forwarded  to  the  king.    They  complained  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  religious  houses,  and  of  the  consequent  destitution  of  "  the  poorealty  of 
the  realme ;"  of  the  restraints  imposed  on  the  distribution  of  property  by  the 
"  statute  of  uses;"  of  the  introduction,  to  the  council,  of  Cromwell,  Rich,  and 
other  "  such  personages,  as  be  of  lowe  birth  and  smale  reputation  ;"  of  the  grant 
to  the  king  of  the  tenths  and  first  fruits  of  spiritual  benefices ;  and  of  the  pro 
motion  of  the  archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  Dublin,  and  of  the  bishops  of  Ro 
chester,  Salisbury  and  St.  David's,  men,  who  in  the  opinion  of  the  remonstrants, 
had  clearly  "  subvertyd  the  faith  of  Crist."     Henry  had  already  sent  a  force, 
under  the  duke  of  Suffolk,  to  oppose  the  insurgents.     He  now,  however,  con 
sented  to  negotiate.     A  proclamation  was  issued,  commanding  the  disaffected 


264  HENRY  VIII.  '[PARTI* 

and  interest  in  the  north,  who  styled  his  attempt  the 
pilgrimage  of  grace.  He  ordered  the  chief  standard 
to  be  painted  with  a  crucifix  and  a  chalice,  to  signify 
the  motive  of  their  rising,  which  was  farther  explained 
by  a  public  manifesto,  the  substance  whereof  was,  that 
the  bishop  of  Rome  should  be  restored  to  the  supremacy 
he  had  lately  been  deprived  of;  that  pernicious  coun 
sellors  should  be  removed  from  the  king ;  that  care 
should  be  immediately  taken  to  suppress  all  erroneous 
opinions  in  matters  of  faith;  and  that  the  monks,  who  had 
been  ejected  from  their  convents  should  be  immediately 
replaced.  Most  of  these  particulars  were  drawn  up  in 
the  form  of  an  oath,  which  was  administered  to  all  of  the 
confederacy.1  In  a  little  time,  the  army  became  very 
numerous,  being  reinforced  by  disaffected  persons  from 
Lancashire,  Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  &c.,  among 
whom  were  many  priests  and  monks,  who  had  been 
forced  out  of  their  possessions,  and  great  numbers  of 
gentlemen  and  others,  who  had  been  either  ruined,  or 
great  sufferers,  by  the  dissolution.  They  all  flocked  to 
general  Aske,  who  had  his  rendezvous  in  Yorkshire. 
But  "  to  frighten  the  monks  from  applying  to  the  rebels, 
and  returning  to  their  old  seats,  his  highness  ordered 
that  the  religious  of  Salley,  Whalley,  Norton,  and  Hex- 
ham,  should  be  dragged  out  of  the  monasteries,  and 
executed  by  martial  law."2  However,  the  army  still 
grew  every  day  more  formidable,  and  several  lords  and 
OCT.  other  persons  of  distinction  went  over  to  them ; 
20-  even  Dr.  Lee,  archbishop  of  York,  though  at  first 
he  was  forced  in,  yet  he,  and  some  others  in  the  same 
circumstances,  took  the  oath  drawn  up  by  general  Aske, 

to  return  home :  the  more  resolute  retired,  to  join  the  followers  of  Aske,  in  York 
shire  ;  and  the  rest  obtained  a  full  pardon,  on  condition  "  that  they  should  ac 
knowledge  their  fault,  deliver  up  their  armour,  and  approve  and  maintain  all 
the  acts  of  parliament  made  since  the  king's  reign."  Speed,  1017,  1018;  Herb. 
474 — 476.  In  the  Appendix,  No.  XLIL,  I  subjoin,  from  the  original,  Henry's 
own  account,  sent  to  his  ambassadors  in  France,  of  the  origin  of  this  insurrec 
tion,  and  of  his  preparations  to  suppress  it. — 7VJ 

1  See  Appendix,  No  XLIII.    [In  point  of  fact,  the  oath  contained  only  a 
general  engagement  to  defend  the  church,  and  obtain  the  removal  of  evil  coun 
sellors.     The  other  "  particulars"  were  afterwards  stated,  among  the  demands  of 
the  insurgents,  mentioned  in  a  subset]  ucnt  note. — TJ] 

2  Collier,  ii,  132.     [These  religious  had  been  restored  to  their  houses  by  the 
insurgents.     Herb.  477. — 71.] 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  265 

for  the  preservation  of  the  king,  and  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  both  in  church  and  state.1 

Meantime,  the  king  was  preparing  against  this  dan 
gerous  insurrection,  and  sent  down  an  army,  commanded 
by  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  the  duke  of  Suifolk,  the  earl  of 
Shrewsbury,  and  the  marquis  of  Exeter.  The  rebels' 
army  (for  this  title  I  must  give  them,  though  they 
fought  for  liberty  and  property)  consisted  of  about 
40,000  men,  animated  with  zeal  for  religion,  and  not  in 
ferior  to  the  king's  troops  in  any  respect.  This  made 
the  court  very  cautious  how  they  proceeded,  it  being 
judged  a  dangerous  expedient  to  hazard  the  issue  of  a 
battle.  The  king's  enemies  were  masters  of  Pomfret, 
York,  and  Hull,  and  were  already  in  sight  of  Doncaster, 
when  they  were  arrested  in  their  progress,  by  a  sudden 
swell  of  the  waters  of  the  river,  which  rendered  the  ford 
impassable.  While  both  armies  were  within  view,  and 
preparing  for  an  engagement,  a  herald  was  despatched 
from  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  with  certain  articles,  directed 
to  general  Aske.  He  received  the  herald,  sitting  in  a 
kind  of  chair  of  state,  between  the  lord  Darcy  and  the 
archbishop  of  York.  Upon  this  message,  it  was  agreed, 
that  a  conference  should  be  held  at  Doncaster,  where, 
according  to  appointment,  the  duke  of  Norfolk  and 
others  were  met  by  the  chiefs  of  the  insurrection,  viz. 
lord  Scrope,  lord  Latymer,  lord  Lumley,  lord  Darcy, 
sir  Thomas  Percy,  Robert  Aske,  arid  about  three  hun 
dred  attendants,  who  had  received  instructions  to  lay 
the  demands  of  the  confederates  before  the  king.  Henry 
replied  to  these  demands,  in  a  paper  written  by  himself:2 

1  Herb.  476,  477;  Burnet,  i.  219;  Speed,  1018—1020. 

2  [Henry's  answer  is  in  Speed,  1022 — 1024,  and  in  Herbert,  481 — 485.    Speed 
(1021, 1022)  has  also  printed  the  demands  of  the  insurgents,  as  they  were  laid 
before  Henry.     They  were,  that  all  heretical  publications  should  be  destroyed, 
all  heretics  and  heretical  bishops  should  be  burned;  that  the  statute  of  uses, 
the  statute  by  which  words  were  construed  to  be  misprision  of  treason,  and  that 
by  which  tenths  and  first  fruits  were  given  to  the  king,  should  be  repealed ;  that 
the  pope  should  be  restored  to  his  ancient  jurisdiction,  the  princess  Mary  to  her 
place  in  the  succession,  and  the  late  inmates  of  the  suppressed  monasteries  to 
the  houses  from  which  they  had  been  ejected;  that  the  ancient  liberties,  privi 
leges,  and  customs  of  the  church  should  be  restored  and  confirmed  by  act  of 
parliament;  that  Audley,  the  chancellor,  Cromwell,  the  privy  seal,  and  Rich, 
the  attorney-general,  should  be  punished  "  as  subverters  of  the  good  laws  of 


266  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

but  to  the  duke  of  Norfolk  he  gave  power  to  grant  a 
pardon,  in  case  the  insurgents  would  disperse,  six  per 
sons  only  excepted  by  name,  and  four  more  to  be 
named.  These  articles  being  rejected,  the  duke  of  Nor 
folk  immediately  wrote  to  the  king,  and,  with  some  diffi 
culty,  procured  a  licence  to  sign  a  general  pardon, 
without  any  exception,  with  a  promise,  that  a  parlia 
ment  should  forthwith  be  assembled  at  York,  for  the 
discussion  and  redress  of  their  grievances.1  Upon  this, 
general  A  ske  disbands  or  dismisses  his  army,  and  is  not 
only  permitted  to  come  up  to  London,  but  caressed  by 
the  courtiers,  and  even  rewarded  for  the  trouble  he  had 
taken.  Such  is  the  subtlety  of  politicians  !  when  they 
are  not  able  to  accomplish  their  designs  by  force,  they 
will  own  themselves  to  be  in  the  wrong,  that  they  may 
have  leisure  to  alter  their  game,  and  draw  the  adverse 
party  into  a  snare.  And  this  was  king  Henry's  method, 
who  being  dilatory  in  complying  wTith  the  articles  agreed 
upon,  and,  if  I  may  take  the  liberty  to  say  it,  falsifying 
his  word,  it  was  too  late  perceived,  that  the  concessions, 
he  made,  were  only  a  mere  amusement,  to  gain  time. 
General  Aske  and  the  rest  of  his  adherents,  finding 
they  were  deluded,  fly  again  to  arms,  and  endea 
vour  to  rekindle,  in  the  north,  the  fire  that  was  lately 
extinguished.  They  had  quickly  raised  a  body  of  8000 
men,  and  laid  siege  to  Carlisle ;  but  the  king's  forces 
falling  upon  them,  they  were  routed  and  dispersed,  and 
most  of  the  commanders,  being  taken  prisoners,  were 
soon  after  put  to  death  :  as  namely,  Robert  Aake,  exe 
cuted  at  York,  in  June,  1537  ;  lord  Darcy  on  Tower 
Hill ;  lord  Hussy,  at  Lincoln  ;  sir  Robert  Constable,  at 

the  realm ;"  that  Lee  and  Layton,  the  visitors  of  the  northern  monasteries, 
should  be  prosecuted  for  bribery,  extortion,  "  and  other  abominable  acts ;"  that 
no  person,  residing  north  of  Trent,  should  be  compelled  to  appear  in  any  court 
of  law  out  of  York,  unless  summoned  "  upon  pain  of  allegiance ;  "  that  the 
common  law  should  be  restored  to  its  wonted  authority;  and  that  a  parliament 
should  shortly  be  assembled  "in  some  convenient  place,  as  Nottingham  or 
York,"  for  the  discussion  of  such  matters  as  should  be  laid  before  it. — TV] 

1  [Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  27— 32 ;  Herb.  479-481;  Burnet,  i.  219—222. 
Henry  himself,  however,  endeavoured  to  create  a  belief,  that  he  had  entered  into 
no  engagement,  either,  to  pardon  the  insurgents,  or  to  assemble  a  parliament.  See 
his  own  account  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XL IV.— TVj 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  267 

Hull ;  lady  Bulmer,  wife  to  sir  John  Bulmer,  otherwise 
called  Margaret  Cheyney,  burnt  in  Smithfield ;  and  sir 
Thomas  Percy,  sir  Francis  Bigot,  sir  Stephen  Hamble- 
ton,  sir  John  Bulmer,  George  Lumley,  Nicholas  Tempest, 
William  Thurst,  abbot  of  Fountain's,  Adam  Sudbury, 
abbot  of  Gervaux,  the  abbot  of  Rivers,  and  William 
Wold,  prior  of  Bridlington ;  who  all  suffered  upon  the 
same  account,  with  a  great  many  other  inferior  persons, 
whose  names  are  not  recorded.1 

This  was  the  only  forcible  opposition  king  Henry 
VIII.  met  with,  in  his  attempts  upon  the  liberties  of  the 
church.  And  who  can  wonder  if  some  endeavours  wrere 
made  use  of,  to  recover  a  freedom  so  well  established, 
and  of  so  long  a  standing?  The  body  parts  not  with  the 
soul,  its  ancient  companion,  without  a  great  many  con 
vulsions  and  agonizing  throbs  ;  and  how  could  England 
give  up  her  ancient  practices  and  spiritual  life,  without 
a  remarkable  reluctance  at  the  parting  ?  Running  to 
arms,  upon  such  a  provocation,  has  been  customary  in 
most  nations  :  and  where  either  civil  or  religious  rights 
were  invaded,  resistance  never  wanted  advocates  among 
men  of  all  religions.  And  certainly,  "  if  resistance  of 
the  chief  magistrate  had  been  justifiable  in  any  case, 
those  who  appeared  in  arms,  upon  the  dissolution  of  the 
monasteries,  had  a  strong  colour  for  their  undertaking. 
For,  were  not  the  old  land-marks  set  aside,  and  the  con 
stitution  new  modelled  ?  For,  do  not  the  liberties  and 
immunities  of  the  church  stand  in  the  front  of  Magna 
Charta  ?  and  are  they  not  particularly  secured,  in  the 
first  place  ?  Was  not  the  king's  coronation  oath  lament 
ably  strained,  when  he  signed  the  dissolution  act?  For, 
had  he  not  sworn  to  guard  the  property  of  his  subjects, 
to  protect  the  religious,  and  maintain  them  in  their  legal 
establishment  ?  The  ancient  nobility  were  thrown  out 
of  the  patronage  of  their  monasteries,  lost  their  corro- 
dies,  and  the  privilege  of  their  ancestors'  benefactions. 
The  rents  were  raised,  and  the  poor  forgotten,  as  they 


'Herb.   491,  492;     Burnet,  i.  224;     Speed,  1025,  1026.     [Sanders  (155, 
156)  has  given  a  much  longer  list  of  the  persons  executed  on  this  occasion. — T1.] 


268  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

complained,  by  the  new  proprietors.  Besides,  they  were 
afraid  their  friends,  in  the  other  world,  might  suffer  by 
these  alienations,  and  the  dead  fair  the  worse,  for  want 
of  the  prayers  of  the  living.  Granting,  therefore,  the 
matter  of  fact,  that  the  prosecutions  were  legal,  which 
wray  are  the  abbots  (who  rose  in  the  north)  more  to  be 
blamed,  than  the  barons,  who  took  up  arms,  in  defence 
of  liberty  and  property,  and  appeared  in  the  field,  against 
king  John  and  Henry  III.  ?  The  abbeys,  without  ques 
tion,  had  all  the  security  the  civil  magistrate  could  give 
them ;  no  estate  could  be  better  guarded  by  the  laws. 
Magna  Charta,  as  I  observed,  was  made  particularly  in 
favour  of  these  foundations,  and  confirmed,  at  the  be 
ginning  of  every  parliament,  for  many  succeeding  reigns. 
These  things  considered,  we  must,  of  necessity,  either 
condemn  the  barons,  or  acquit  the  monks,  and  justify 
the  northern  rebellion."1  Now,  if  any  one  is  disposed  to 
mention  these  insurrections,  by  way  of  reproach  to  the 
catholic  cause,  the  tables  may  be  turned  upon  him.  Did 
not  Wyat,  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Poynet,  with  several 
other  great  men  of  the  protestant  party,  appear  both  in 
the  field,  and  in  the  pulpit,  against  Mary,  queen  of  Eng 
land  r  Was  not  Mary,  queen  of  Scots,  opposed  and 
obliged  to  abdicate,  by  the  reformers  of  that  nation? 
Was  not  Germany  distracted  near  seventy  years,  upon 
the  same  laudable  motive  ?  Did  not  the  states  of  Hol 
land  withdraw  themselves  from  Spain,  in  defence  of 
liberty  and  property  ?  Did  not  the  reformers  in  France 
resist  their  lawful  king,  near  sixty  years,  in  defence  of 
religious  liberties  ?  Such  reproaches,  therefore,  are  very 
inconsistent,  and  made  with  a  very  ill  grace.  It  is  more 
adviseable  to  refrain  from  reflections,  and  sit  down  con 
tent  with  reprisals.  Though,  indeed,  there  seems  to  be 
some  difference  in  the  case :  the  monks  showed  a  pre 
scription  of  many  ages,  and  the  repeated  statutes  of 
above  thirty  parliaments;  whilst  the  others  fought  against 
the  law,  and  threw  out  the  old  possessors,  upon  a  pre 
carious  title. 

1  Collier,  ii.  138. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  269 

It  was  the  opinion  of  some,  that  this  dangerous  insur 
rection  would  have  induced  the  king  to  have  stopped 
his  hand,  and  either  to  have  restored  the  monasteries  to 
their  rights,  or  else  to  have  contented  himself  with  a 
reformation  only  ;  and  this  was  the  substance  of  his  pro 
mise  to  the  nobility  and  gentry  in  the  north,  before  they 
would  yield  to  lay  down  their  arms.1  But  that  affair 
had  a  quite  different  effect ;  for  the  confederacy  being 
broke,  and  the  party  dispirited,  by  having  such  a  num 
ber  of  their  chief  men  executed,  this  encouraged  the 
king  to  proceed,  and  put  the  remainder  of  his  designs 
in  execution,  having  nothing  now  to  apprehend  by  way 
of  force.  The  seizure  of  the  greater  monasteries,  as  it 
is  thought,  had  been  concerted  from  the  beginning,  but 
being  too  bulky  an  undertaking,  it  was  to  be  carried  on 
gradually.  It  was  resolved,  therefore,  that  the  greater 
monasteries  should  share  the  fate  of  the  lesser ;  and,  as 
formerly,  when  these  were  seized,  so  now,  several  ser 
viceable  reports  were  spread  abroad,  to  make  the  com 
mon  people  relish  the  undertaking.  It  was  rumoured, 
that  cardinal  Pole  was  exciting  all  Europe  to  engage  in 
a  kind  of  crusade  against  England ;  that  the  emperor 
and  king  of  France  had  entered  into  an  alliance,  to  call 
king  Henry  to  an  account,  for  having  violated  the  rights 
of  the  church,  and,  in  some  measure,  the  rights  of  all 
mankind ;  that  a  general  and  heavy  tax  would  be  neces 
sary,  to  make  the  nation  capable  of  withstanding  so 
many  formidable  enemies ;  and  (what  was  principally 
intended  by  these  reports)  that  the  seizure  of  the  greater 
monasteries  would  be  a  proper  expedient,  and  defray  all 
the  expense,  to  the  great  ease  of  the  subject.  "  But  all 
this  noise  of  an  invasion  was  looked  upon,  as  no  better 
than  management  and  mystery,  by  a  great  many."2 
Some  there  were,  who,  to  avert  the  blow,  thought  it 
would  not  be  an  unseasonable  insinuation  to  remind  the 
king,  that  the  visitors  had  given  the  greater  monasteries 

1  [This  is  the  assertion  of  Sanders  (155),  but  it  is  certainly  without  founda 
tion.  Henry  only  promised  to  assemble  a  parliament,  in  which  this,  and  other 
matters  contained  in  their  demands,  should  be  discussed.  Herb.  481. — TJ] 

~  Collier,  ii.  160;  Herb.  506,  507. 


270  HENRY  VITT.  [PART  T. 

an  excellent  character,  for  their  morals,  and  exactness 
in  monastic  discipline,  which  was  taken  notice  of,  and 
owned  publicly,  in  parliament.1  But  this  inconsistency 
was  not  regarded ;  the  king  had  more  motives  than  one 
to  pursue  his  design.  In  fact,  "  the  fate  of  the  abbeys 
was  irrecoverably  fixed.  The  king's  passions  ran  so 
strong  for  a  dissolution,  that  he  would  scarce  endure 
the  report  of  a  fair  character  given  the  religious."2 
However,  this  consideration  obliged  the  managers  to  be 
a  little  more  artificial  in  their  proceedings,  which,  in 
general,  was,  to  make  the  world  believe,  that  the  mo 
nasteries  were  not  wrested  from  the  possessors,  by  com 
pulsion,  but  delivered  up,  by  a  voluntary  surrender. 
Now  the  method  they  practised  was  this. 

"  In  the  vacancy  of  the  greater  houses,  such  persons 
were  elected,  as  were  disposed  to  comply  with  the 
court  measures.3.  .  When  they  found  the  abbots 
indisposed  for  their  purpose,  they  tempted  them  with 
the  promise  of  large  pensions  during  life.  .  When  they 
proved  untractable,  upon  motives  of  conscience  or 
honour,  they  were  highly  complained  of  for  their  dis 
obedience.  .  Spiritual  directors,  after  several  other  per 
suasives,  told  them  plainly,  that  they  were  bound  in 
conscience  to  submit  to  the  king's  pleasure. .  When  large 
pensions,  wrhich  were  sometimes  given,  and  well  paid 
too,  failed  of  success,  they  applied  to  menacing  and 
rigour. .  Some  abbots  were  deprived,  and  others  more 
manageable  put  in  their  room. .  The  commissioners  took 
the  convent  seals  from  some  houses.  This  was,  in  a 
manner,  laying  close  siege  to  them.  Thus  their  com 
munication  and  provision  was,  in  a  great  manner,  cut 
off.  They  could  neither  make  leases,  nor  sell  their 
jewels.  By  this  means,  their  paying  their  debts,  and 
supplying  their  occasions,  was  oftentimes  impracticable. 

1  "  Wherein,  thanks  be  to  God,  religion  is  well  kept  and  observed."  Preamble 
to  Stat.  27  Henry  VIII.  c.  28,  for  the  dissolution  of  the  lesser  monasteries. 

2  Collier  ( ii.  1 56),  arguing  from  a  letter,  written  by  Giffard,  one  of  the  visi 
tors,  and  addressed  to  Cromwell,  June  19,  1537. 

3  [Even  Burnet  acknowledges  the  same.     "  All  the  abbots,"  says  he,  "  were 
now  placed  by  the  king,  and  were  generally  picked  out,  to  serve  his  turn." 
i.  226.— r. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  2/1 

And  thus  the  garrison  was  reduced  at  last,  and  starved 
to  a  surrender.  .  The  whole  matter  was  so  managed,  as 
if  nothing  rough  or  compulsive  had  been  offered,,  but 
that  the  king  had  been  courted  to  accept  the  monaste 
ries  :  and  if  any  religious  gave  oat  their  surrenders  were 
involuntary,  a  mark  of  dislike  was  set  upon  them.  .  Arid 
thus,  by  menacing  and  presents,  by  promises  and  per 
suasions,  and  by  all  the  artifices,  which  were  like  to 
batter  the  constancy,  and  prevail  upon  the  passions,  of 
mankind,  he  (Cromwell)  brought  the  abbots  to  a  sur 
render,  and  made  himself  master  of  his  project."1  Even 
Fuller,  speaking  of  the  priory  of  Aldgate,  says,  "  whereas 
all  other  abbeys  afterwards  were  stormed  by  violence, 
whatsoever  is  plausibly  pretended  to  the  contrary,  this 
only  was  fairly  taken  by  composition."2  It  wras  by  these 
methods,  that  the  commissioners,  in  about  two  years' 
time,  put  an  end  to  this  pious  work  (for  so  it  must  be 
called,  out  of  respect  to  that  supreme  power  that  brought 
it  about),  and  demolished  the  monuments  of  the  British, 
Saxon,  and  Norman  glory,  which,  for  above  a  thousand 
years,  had  been  undeniable  proofs  of  virtue  and  religion; 
but  now,  to  the  scandal  both  of  Turks  and  Infidels, 
were  sacrificed  to  lust,  avarice,  ambition,  and  revenge ; 
and  little  remains  to  put  us  in  mind  of  the  zeal  of  our 
forefathers,  or  the  impiety  of  their  successors,  besides 
heaps  of  rubbish,  and  a  bare  catalogue  of  those  religious 
houses,  many  whereof  had  a  place  in  parliament,  in  the 
house  of  lords.3 

1  Collier,  ii.  157,  158,  159.  Dugdale,  in  his  Hist,  of  Warwickshire  (801, 
802),  speaks  in  the  same  manner.  2  Fuller,  307. 

3  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  mitred  abbots :— St.  Albans,  Westminster,  St. 
Edmondsbnry,  St.  Bennet  of  Holme,  Shrewsbury,  Croyland,  Abingdon,  Eve- 
sham,  Gloucester,  Ramsey,  St.  Mary's  York,  Tewkesbury,  Reading,  Battle, 
Winchcombe,  Hyde  near  Winchester,  Cirencester,  Waltham,  Malmesbury, 
Tiiorney,  St.  Augustin's  Canterbury,  Selby,  Peterborough,  St.  John's  Col 
chester,  Coventry,  Tavistock,  St.  John's  of  Jerusalem,  anclGlastonbury.  Besides 
these,  there  were  several  other  monasteries  better  endowed  than  some  of  those 
above,  though  the  abbots  were  not  mitred,  viz.— Fountain's,  in  Yorkshire, 
Lewes  in  Sussex,  St.  Werberg's  in  Chester,  Leicester,  Merton  in  Surrey, 
Furness  in  Lancashire,  and  Sion  House.  Again,  there  were  four  nunneries 
which  held  of  the  king  in  entire  barony,  viz. — Barking  in  Essex,  Shaftesbury, 
St.  Mary's  of  Winchester,  and  Wilton. 

As  to  the  number  of  the  other  religious  houses,  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  be 


272  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

I  have  given  an  account  above,  how  the  religious  were 
disposed  of,  upon  the  dissolution  of  the  lesser  monaste 
ries.  As  for  the  greater,  the  abbots  and  other  heads  of 
houses  were  considered,  with  annual  pensions  for  life, 
under  the  broad  seal,  which  were  proportioned  to  the 
willingness  they  showed  in  making  a  surrender.  The 
members  of  every  convent  had  also  some  small  yearly 
allowance,  though  often  very  ill  paid,  as  it  appears  from 
several  complaints,  and  orders  issued  out  for  a  better 
compliance  with  the  statutes  in  those  cases.  The  nuns 
had  commonly  about  four  pounds  a  year  allowed  them, 
"  and  that  only  for  those,  that  had  been  in  the  convent 
a  long  time  before  the  dissolution  thereof ;  otherwise,  I 
meet  with  no  portions  to  those  that  lately  were  entered 
into  the  houses,  being  outed,  and  left  at  large,  to  prac 
tice  the  apostle's  precept,  '  I  will  that  the  younger  WTO- 
men  (so  our  author  expounds  the  text)  marry,  bear 
children/  &c.'n  Many  of  the  monks  retired  to  the  uni 
versities,  where  they  privately  followed  their  studies ; 
others  were  entertained  by  their  friends  and  relations, 
where  they  husbanded  their  small  pensions,  in  the  best 
manner  they  were  able.  And  those  that  were  willing  to 
comply  with  the  court,  in  the  article  of  the  supremacy, 

exact  in  the  computation.  Mr.  Camden's  account  is,  that  they  amounted  to 
645  in  England  and  Wales ;  but  a  list,  taken  out  of  the  court  of  first  fruits  and 
tenths,  makes  them  754.  This  latter  account,  perhaps,  takes  in  some  of  the  col 
legiate  churches  and  hospitals,  which  may  occasion  the  variation.  (See  Collier, 
ii.  164,  165).  Mr.  Burton  gives  us  a  list,  drawn  out  of  Leland's  MSS.,  which 
may  he  found  in  Speed.  "  How  defective  and  erroneous  this  catalogue  is,"  says 
Mr.  Tanner,  "  may  be  seen  by  our  Notitia,  in  which  the  reader  will  find  some 
hundreds  of  mistakes  and  omissions,  corrected  and  supplied  out  of  the  Monas- 
ticon,  and  other  good  authorities"  (Preface  to  Notitia  Monastica,  1st  edit.) 
The  annual  revenues  of  these  religious  houses  was  computed  at  135,522/.  18s. 
10d.,  and  the  moveable  goods  were  in  a  manner  inestimable.  The  valuation  in 
Burton  and  Speed's  list  is  said  to  be  taken  from  an  original,  given  in  by  the  com 
missioners  to  Henry  VIII.  There  is  another  valuation  in  Mr.  Dugdale,  differ 
ing  from  theirs,  and  which  he  pretends  is  agreeable  to  an  ancient  MS.  in  the 
Cottonian  Library.  Mr.  Leland  values  several  of  the  monasteries  after  a  difter- 
ent  manner  from  all  the  rest ;  and  Mr.  Tanner  owns  he  dares  not  undertake  to 
reconcile  so  many  different  accounts. 

1  Fuller,  340—346.  ["The  pensions  to  the  superiors,"  says  Dr.  Lingard,  "ap 
pear  to  have  varied  from  266/.  to  6/.  per  annum.  The  priors  of  cells  received 
generally,  13Z.  A  few,  whose  services  merited  the  distinction,  obtained  201.  To 
the  other  monks  were  allotted  pensions,  of  six,  four,  or  two  pounds,  with  a  small 
sum  to  each,  at  his  departure,  to  provide  for  his  immediate  wants."  Hist,  of 
Eng.  iv.  257,  note.— TV] 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  273 

&c.,  were  frequently  preferred  to  benefices ;  in  which 
cases,  their  pensions  returned  to  the  king,  or  to  those 
who  had  purchased  the  lands  upon  which  the  pensions 
were  charged.1  Now,  if  these  pensioners  happened  to 
be  deprived  of  their  right,  by  the  officers  employed  in 
these  matters  (as  they  often  were,  by  questioning  their 
claim,  and  frivolous  demurs  in  payment),  the  way  to  jus 
tice  was  both  troublesome  and  chargeable ;  and,  as  the 
ejected  religious  were  looked  upon  as  a  dead-weight 
upon  the  exchequer,  so  they  found  as  few  friends  to 
assist  them,  in  recovering  their  pensions,  as  they  did 
advocates  to  hinder  the  seizure  of  their  lands. 

The  religious  orders  being  thus  deprived  of  all  their 
substance,  both  lands  and  goods,  the  next  contrivance 
was,  to  have  them  bestowed  upon  the  king,  to  increase 
the  royal  revenue  (as  it  was  pretended),  but,  indeed, 
upon  a  farther  view,  that  the  hungry  courtiers  might 
divide  the  plunder.2  To  bring  this  about,  "  the  MAV  is, 
members  of  both  houses  were  informed  in  parlia-  1539 
ment,  that  no  king  or  kingdom  were  safe,  but  where  the 
king  had  three  abilities ;  first,  to  live  of  his  own,  and 
able  to  defend  his  kingdom,  upon  sudden  invasion  or 
insurrection ;  secondly,  to  aid  his  confederates,  other 
wise  they  would  never  assist  him ;  thirdly,  to  reward 
his  well-deserving  servants.  Now  the  project  was,  if 

1  ["  By  the  way,  this  was  a  temptation  to  the  king  and  chancellor,  oft-times 
to  prefer  mean  men,  which  formerly  had  been  monks  and  friars,  to  no  mean  livings; 
because,  beside  the  general  want  of  able  ministers,  such  incumbents  being  so 
provided  for,  the  exchequer  was  disburdened  from  future  paying  them  any  ex 
hibition."  Fuller,  341.— r] 

2  [It  will  be  remarked,  that  the  first  step,  in  this  process  of  confiscation,  was, 
to  obtain  what  was  called  a  voluntary  surrender  of  the  property;  the  second,  to 
vest  that  property,  by  act  of  parliament,  in  the  crown.  The  former  was  part  of 
Henry's  policy,  which  sought  to  avoid  the  odium  of  an  arbitrary  seizure;  the 
latter  was  necessary,  to  legalize  the  surrenders,  inasmuch  as  the  abbots,  and 
other  members  of  the  religious  houses,  possessing  but  a  life  interest  in  the  es 
tates,  could,  in  law,  convey  nothing  more  to  the  king  (Burnet,  i.  228  ;  Collier, 
ii.  164).  The  act,  however,  which  is  the  only  statute  on  the  subject,  strictly 
confines  itself  to  its  avowed  object.  It  gives  to  Henry  all  the  property,  moveable 
and  immoveable,  of  the  several  monasteries,  which  had  already  been,  or  should 
hereafter  be,  "  suppressed,  relinquished,  forfeited,  or  given  up :"  but  it  contains 
no  clause,  whereby  any  religious  establishment  is  dissolved,  or  any  monastic 
property,  not  previously  surrendered,  is  alienated  (Stat.  31  Hen.  VIII.  c.  13). 
Hence,  when  the  monks  refused  to  surrender,  Henry,  in  order  to  obtain  the  pro 
perty  by  forfeiture,  charged  them  with  treasonable  practices. — T.~\ 

VOL.  I.  T 


274  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

the  parliament  would  give  unto  him  all  the  abbeys, 
priories,  friaries,  nunneries,  and  other  monasteries,  that, 
for  ever  in  time  then  to  come,  he  would  take  order, 
that  the  same  should  not  be  converted  to  private  use; 
but,  first,  that  his  exchequer,  for  the  purposes  aforesaid, 
should  be  enriched  ;  secondly,  the  kingdom  be  strength 
ened  by  a  continual  maintenance  of  40,000  well- 
trained  soldiers,  with  skilful  captains  and  commanders ; 
thirdly,  for  the  benefit  and  ease  of  the  subject,  who 
never  afterwards  (as  was  projected),  in  any  time  to 
come,  should  be  charged  with  subsidies,  fifteenths,  loans, 
or  other  common  aids ;  fourthly,  lest  the  honour  of  the 
realm  should  receive  any  diminution  of  honour  by  the 
dissolution  of  the  said  monasteries,  there  being  twenty- 
nine  lords  of  parliament  of  the  abbots  and  priors,  that 
held  of  the  king  per  baroniam,  that  the  king  would 
create  a  number  of  nobles.  The  said  monasteries  were 
given  to  the  king,  by  the  authority  of  divers  acts  of  par 
liament  ;  but  no  provision  was  therein  made  for  the  said 
project,  or  any  part  thereof;  only,  ad faciendum popu- 
lum,  these  possessions  were  given  to  the  king,  his  heirs, 
and  successors,  to  do  and  use  therewith  his  and  their 
own  wills,  to  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  the  honour 
and  profit  of  the  realm.  Now,  observe  the  catastrophe. 
In  the  same  parliament  of  the  32nd  of  Henry  VIII., 
when  the  great  and  opulent  priory  of  St.  John's  of  Je 
rusalem  was  given  to  the  king,  he  demanded,  and  had, 
a  subsidy  both  of  the  laity  and  clergy ;  and  the  like  he 
had  in  the  34th  of  Henry  VIII. ;  and  in  the  37th  of 
Henry  VIII. ,  he  had  another  subsidy  ;  and,  since  the 
dissolution  of  the  aforesaid  monasteries,  he  exacted  great 
loans,  and  against  law  received  the  same."1  In  order 
to  manage  these  revenues,  accruing  to  the  crown  by  the 
dissolution  of  monasteries,  a  court  of  augmentation  wras 
erected,  though  it  scarce  deserved  that  name,  the  mo 
nastic  lands  being  in  a  great  measure  disposed  of  to  the 
king's  favourites,  before  the  court  was  thoroughly  es 
tablished  ;  "  wherein,"  as  Fuller  observes,  "  the  officers 

1  Coke,  Instit  iv.  44,  apud  Collier,  ii.  161,  and  Dugd.  Monast.  i.  1049. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  275 

were  many,  their  pensions  great,  crown-profits  thereby 
small,  and  causes  therein  depending  few ;  so  that  it  was 
not  worth  the  while,  to  keep  up  a  mill  to  grind  that 
grist,  where  the  toll  would  not  quit  cost."1  However, 
this  court  subsisted  eighteen  years,  chiefly  for  the  be 
nefit  of  the  clerks,  &c.,  and  wras  not  dissolved  till  the 
first  of  queen  Mary,  1553,  when  those  pensioners,  that 
remained  alive,  were  in  hopes  of  being  better  provided 
for. 

Several  disinterested  writers,  after  having  seriously 
considered  this  dissolution  of  monasteries,  as  well  in 
itself,  as  with  regard  to  the  consequences,  have  candidly 
owned,  that  nothing  could  be  carried  on  more  scanda 
lous  to  religion,  or  more  detrimental  to  the  civil  govern 
ment  ;  to  say  nothing  how  criminal  it  might  be,  in  the 
sight  of  God  (whatever  the  ruling  powers  might  pre 
tend),  to  drive  so  many  thousand  persons  out  of  their 
possessions,  and  obstruct  them  in  the  duties  of  fasting, 
prayer,  and  recollection,  which  are  practices  recom 
mended  and  enjoined  by  the  Gospel.  Every  station  in 
life,  and  every  order  of  men,  felt  the  weight  of  king 
Henry's  hand,  and  were  considerable  sufferers  by  the 
undertaking ;  both  nobility  and  gentry,  rich  and  poor, 
young  and  old,  clergy  and  laity,  the  ignorant  and  the 
learned,  the  living  and  the  dead,  became  sensible  of 
many  inconveniences,  and  experienced  innumerable  ca 
lamities,  which  flowed  from  it.  "  The  temporal  nobility 
and  gentry  had  a  creditable  way  of  providing  for  their 
younger  children :  those  who  were  disposed  to  with 
draw  from  the  world,  or  not  likely  to  make  their  for 
tunes  in  it,  had  a  handsome  retreat  to  the  cloister. 
Here  they  were  furnished  with  conveniences  for  life  and 
study,  with  opportunities  for  thought  and  recollection, 
and,  over  and  above,  passed  their  time  in  a  condition 
not  unbecoming  their  quality.  The  charge  of  the  family 
being  thus  lessened,  there  was  no  temptation  for  racking 
of  tenants,  no  occasion  for  breaking  the  bulk  of  the 
estate,  to  provide  for  the  younger  children.  Thus  figure 

1  Fuller,  349. 

T  2 


270  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

and  good  housekeeping  was  maintained  with  greater 
ease,  the  entireness  of  the  estate,  and,  by  consequence, 
the  lasting  of  the  family,  better  secured.  It  is  true, 
there  were  sometimes  small  sums  given  to  the  monas 
teries,  for  admitting  persons  to  be  professed,  but,  gene 
rally  speaking,  they  received  them  gratis.  . .  .  The  abbeys 
were  very  serviceable  places  for  the  education  of  young 
people  ;  every  convent  had  one  person  or  more,  assigned 
for  this  business.  Thus  the  children  of  the  neighbour 
hood  were  taught  grammar  and  music,  without  any 
charge  to  their  parents  ;  and,  in  the  nunneries,  those  of 
the  other  sex  learned  to  work,  and  read  English,  with 
some  advances  in  Latin.  . .  .  Farther,  it  is  to  the  abbeys 
we  are  obliged  for  most  of  our  historians,  both  of  church 
and  state.  These  places  of  retirement  had  both  most 
learning  and  leisure  for  such  undertakings  ;  neither  did 
they  want  information  for  such  employments.  For,  not 
to  mention  several  episcopal  sees  were  founded  for  the 
cloister,  the  mitred  abbots,  as  we  have  seen,  sat  in  par 
liament,  and  not  a  few  of  the  religious  had  a  share  in 
the  convocation.  It  is  not  denied,  but  that  they  were 
some  of  the  best  landlords ;  their  reserved  rents  were 
low,  and  their  fines  easy ;  and  sometimes  the  product 
of  the  farms,  without  paying  money,  discharged  the 
tenants  in  a  great  measure.  They  were  particularly  re 
markable  for  their  hospitality.  The  monasteries  were, 
as  it  were,  houses  of  public  entertainment  for  the  gentry 
that  travelled ;  and,  as  for  their  distributions  of  charity, 
it  may  be  guessed  from  one  instance.  While  the  reli 
gious  houses  were  standing,  there  were  no  provisions  of 
parliament  to  relieve  the  poor,  no  assessment  upon  the 
parish  for  that  purpose ;  but  now,  this  charge  upon  the 
kingdom  amounts,  at  a  modest  computation,  to  800,000/. 
per  annum."1  Now,  if  we  compare  the  annual  income 
of  135,522/.  18*.  I0d.,  which  was  the  valuation  of  the 
monastery  lands,  with  the  poor's  tax,  which  amounts  to 
about  800,000/.  per  annum,2  it  will  appear  what  the  na- 

1  Collier,  ii.  165. 

2  [This  was  in  1737:  in  1831,  it  had  risen  to  the  enormous  sura  of  8,622,920/. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  277 

tion  has  got  by  the  dissolution.  I  own,  consideration 
is  to  be  had  to  the  different  valuation  of  money,  in  those 
days,  and  these  ;  but  this  makes  no  difference  in  the 
nature  of  the  burden,  which  the  present  possessors 
of  the  abbey  lands  would  find,  if  the  whole  charge  of 
the  poor  were  to  be  thrown  upon  them.  It  is  allowed, 
the  nation  is  grown  more  populous,  and,  by  this,  the 
number  of  poor  are  proportionably  increased ;  but  are 
not  the  riches  and  trade  of  the  nation  increased,  in  the 
same  degree  ?  Now,  it  is  somewhat  mysterious,  how  a 
nation,  that  increases  in  wealth,  should  abound  more 
with  beggars,  unless  sacrilege  has  entailed  that  blessing 
upon  them. 

But,  to  proceed  from  these,  to  other  inconveniences, 
which  flowed  from  the  same  source.  "  Besides  this 
rent-charge,  as  it  were,  drawn  upon  the  whole  nation, 
by  the  dissolution,  the  ancient  nobility  suffered  con 
siderably  ;  for  the  seizure  and  surrender  of  the  abbeys 
being  confirmed  to  the  crown,  by  act  of  parliament,  the 
services,  reserved  by  the  founders,  were  extinguished  of 
course.  To  mention  some  of  them :  the  abbeys,  that 
held  by  knight's  service,  were  bound  to  provide  such  a 
number  of  soldiers  as  their  estates  required,  and  to  fur 
nish  them  for  the  field  at  their  own  charges.  Thus, 
their  men  were  to  appear  at  the  musters,  and  attend 
the  heirs  of  their  founders,  or  such  benefactors  who 
had  settled  a  knight's  fee  upon  them  :  secondly,  where 
they  held  by  knight's  service,  they  were  bound  to  con 
tribute  towards  a  fortune  for  marrying  their  lord's  eldest 
daughter  :  and,  thirdly,  to  pay  a  sum  of  money,  to 
defray  the  expense  of  knighthood,  when  that  distinc 
tion  was  conferred  upon  the  founder's  eldest  son : 
lastly,  the  founders  had  the  benefit  of  corrodies,  that 
is,  they  had  the  privilege  of  quartering  a  certain  num 
ber  of  poor  servants  upon  the  abbeys.  Thus  people, 
that  were  worn  up  with  age  and  labour,  and  in  no  con 
dition  to  support  themselves,  were  not  thrown  up  to 
starving,  or  parish  collections,  but  had  a  comfortable 
retreat  to  the  abbeys,  where  they  were  maintained^ 
without  hardship,  or  marks  of  indigence,  during  life."  ' 

1  Collier,  ii.  165. 


2/8  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

Again,  the  nation  suffered  very  much  as  to  learning 
and  improvement  in  the  liberal  sciences,  by  the  disso 
lution  of  monasteries,  and  the  suppression  of  an  "  order 
of  men  who  were  once  honourable,  and  always  service 
able,  in  the  church :  —  They  promoted  a  general  im 
provement  ;  they  were  very  industrious  in  restoring 
learning,  and  retrieving  the  country  from  the  remark 
able  ignorance  of  those  times  ....  The  monasteries  were 
the  schools  and  seminaries  of  almost  the  whole  clergy, 

both  secular  and  regular ; they  bred  their  novices  to 

letters,  and,  to  this  purpose,  every  great  monastery  had 
a  peculiar  college  in  each  of  the  universities.  And, 
even  to  the  time  of  their  dissolution,  they  maintained 
great  numbers  of  children  at  school,  for  the  service  of 
the  church.  And,  a  little  before  the  reformation,  many 
of  the  great  monasteries  were  nurseries  of  learning. 
Their  superiors  were  men  of  distinction  this  way,,  and 
great  promoters  of  their  own  sufficiency  in  others.  Of 
this  rank  we  may  reckon  Kidderminster,  abbot  of  Win- 
chelcombe  ;  Godwell,  prior  of  Canterbury  ;  Voch,  prior 
of  St.  Augustin's  ;  Wells,  prior  of  Ely ;  Holbeach,  prior 
of  Worcester ;  Islip,  abbot  of  Westminster  ;  Webbe, 
prior  of  Coventry  ;  and  many  others.  From  hence  it 
appears,  the  monks  deserved  a  fairer  character  than  is 
sometimes  given  them ;  and  that,  in  the  darkest  and 
most  exceptionable  ages,  they  were  far  from  being  ene 
mies  to  learning."  l  Upon  this  occasion,  Mr.  Tanner 
takes  the  liberty  to  say,  "  It  would  but  be  a  common 
justice  to  infuse  a  better  opinion  of  monasteries  into 
the  generality  of  Protestants." 

The  monks  did  not  only  apply  themselves  to  learning, 
but  guarded  the  springs  from  whence  it  was  derived. 
"  Most  of  the  learned  records  of  that  age  were  lodged 
in  the  monasteries.  Printing  was  then  but  a  late  in 
vention,  and  had  secured  but  a  few  books,  in  compa 
rison  of  the  rest.  The  main  of  learning  lay  in  manu 
scripts  ;  and  the  most  considerable  of  these,  both  for 
number  and  quality,  were  in  the  monks'  possession. 

1  Collier,  ii.  19.  2  Pref.  to  Notit.  Monast.  1st  Edit. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  279 

But  the  abbeys,  at  their  dissolution,  falling  sometimes 
into  hands,  who  understood  no  farther  than  the  estates, 
the  libraries  were  miserably  disposed  of.  The  books, 
instead  of  being  removed  to  royal  libraries,  to  those  of 
cathedrals,  or  the  universities,  were  frequently  thrown 
in,  to  the  grantees,  as  things  of  slender  consideration. 
Now,  these  men  oftentimes  proved  a  very  ill  protection 
for  learning  and  antiquity.  Their  avarice  was  some 
times  so  mean,  and  their  ignorance  so  un distinguishing, 
that,  when  the  covers  were  somewhat  rich,  and  would 
yield  a  little,  they  pulled  them  off,  threw  away  the 
books,  or  turned  them  to  waste-paper.  Thus  many 
noble  manuscripts  were  destroyed." l  Nay,  so  great 
a  spoil  was  made  in  the  republic  of  learning,  that  John 
Bale,  sometime  bishop  of  Ossery,  in  Ireland,  "  a  man," 
says  Collier,  "remarkably  averse  to  popery,  and  the 
monastic  institution," 2  gives  this  lamentable  account 
of  what  he  himself  was  an  eye-witness  to  :  "  I  know 
a  merchantman  (which  shall  at  this  time  be  nameless), 
that  bought  the  contents  of  two  noble  libraries,  for 
forty  shillings  price  ;  a  shame  it  is  to  be  spoken.  This 
stuff  hath  he  occupied,  instead  of  grey-paper,  by  the 
space  of  more  than  these  ten  years,  and  yet  he  hath 
store  enough,  for  as  many  years  to  come.  A  prodigious 
example  is  this,  and  to  be  abhorred  of  all  men,  which 
love  their  nation,  as  they  should  do.  Yea,  what  may 
bring  our  realm  to  more  shame  and  rebuke,  than  to 
have  it  noised  abroad,  that  we  are  despisers  of  learning  ? 
I  judge  this  to  be  true,  and  utter  it  with  heaviness,  that 
neither  the  Britons,  under  the  Romans  and  Saxons,  nor 
yet  the  English  people,  under  the  Danes  and  Normans, 
had  ever  such  damage  of  their  learned  monuments,  as 
we  have  seen  in  our  time." 3  But  Bale  is  not  alone  in 
this  charge.  "  Fuller  breaks  out  into  a  passionate 
declamation,  upon  this  occasion,  and  complains  that 
all  arts  and  sciences  fell  under  this  common  calamity. 
How  many  admirable  manuscripts  of  the  fathers, 

1  Collier,  ii.  166.  2  Ibid.  3  Apud  Fuller,  335. 


280  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  u 

schoolmen,  and  commentators,  were  destroyed  by  this 
means  ?  What  number  of  historians  of  all  ages  and 
countries  ?  The  holy  scriptures  themselves,  as  much 
as  these  gospellers  pretended  to  regard  them,  under 
went  the  fate  of  the  rest.  If  a  book  had  a  cross  on  it, 
it  was  condemned  for  popery  ;  and  those  with  lines 
and  circles  were  interpreted  the  black  art,  and  destroyed 
for  conjuring.  And  thus  (as  Fuller  goes  on),  divinity 
was  profaned,  mathematics  suffered  for  correspondence 
with  evil  spirits,  physic  was  maimed,  and  a  riot  com 
mitted  on  the  law  itself."  1 

Learning  being  thus  driven  out  of  the  monasteries, 
the  poor  remains  retired  into  the  two  universities  for 
shelter,  where  it  subsisted  in  a  very  starving  condition, 
and  was  daily  apprehensive  of  being  entirely  subdued 
and  demolished.  Mr.  Wood,  the  Oxford  historian, 
gives  us  a  general  idea  of  this  matter.  He  tells  us, 
that,  whereas  formerly  there  were  in  Oxford  near  300 
halls  or  private  schools,  besides  the  colleges,  now  not 
above  eight  were  remaining.  They  had  constantly 
been  supplied  with  students  from  the  monasteries,  and 
every  religious  order  had  a -place  of  residence  or  school, 
where  they  prepared  themselves  for  academical  perform 
ances  and  degrees.  The  nobility  and  gentry,  in  like 
manner,  had  filled  the  universities.  But  now,  the  mo 
nasteries  withdrew  their  students,  the  nobility  and 
gentry  called  home  their  youth,  and  the  genius  of  the 
whole  nation  seemed  to  be  turned  from  letters  to  studies 
of  a  quite  different  nature.2  It  was  the  general  dis- 

1  Collier,  ii.  166. 

2  Accisas  jam  res  nostras,  immo  pene  deploratas,  vel  ex  aularum  nostrarum 
paucitate  intelligas ;  nam  licet  trecentas  olim,  vel  adhuc  plures,  et  fama  con- 
stanti,  et  registromm  fide,  ductus,  extitisse  crederim,  ad  octo  jam  recedisse 

deprehendo Olim  singuli  nostrum  annuum  stipendium  habuimus,  aliqui 

a  nobilibus,nonnulli  ab  his  qui  monasteriis  praesunt,  plurimi  a  presbyteris  quibus 

run  surit  sacerdotia.     Nunc  vero abbates  suos  monachos  domum  accer- 

sunt,  nobiles  suos  liberos,  presbyteri  suos  consanguineos.     Sic  minuitur  scho- 
lasticorum  numerus,  sic  ruunt  aula?  nostrae,  sic  frigescunt  omnes  liberates  dis- 

ciplinse.     Collegia  solum  perseverant Sane  quidem  literatorum  studio, 

tarn  penitus  restinxit  catnobiorum  eversio,  ut  juvenes,   artes  omnes  ingenuas  per- 
dendas  iri  suspicati,  ad  munera  civilia,  vel  etiam  mechanica,  sese  converterint. 
— Antiq.  Oxon.  262, 265. 


ART.  iv/]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  281 

couragement,  which  the  ecclesiastical  state  lay  under, 
that  occasioned  most  persons  to  employ  their  time  and 
parts  some  other  way.  Had  king  Henry  VIII.  returned 
the  impropriations  to  the  clergy,  and  bestowed  the 
monastic  lands  to  other  spiritual  uses,  as  he  promised 
in  the  beginning,  it  would  have  been  some  encourage 
ment  for  the  English  youth  to  have  followed  their 
studies,  in  hopes  of  preferment.  But,  when  these  things 
were  not  performed,  but,  on  the  contrary,  both  tithes, 
and  many  other  ancient  rights  of  the  church,  were 
secularized,  and  entirely  settled  upon  the  laity,  this 
struck  a  damp  upon  the  spirits  of  all  those,  who  (had 
things  been  otherwise)  might  have  employed  them 
selves  in  academical  learning.  Now,  though,  as  Mr. 
Collier  observes,  "  the  dismembering  the  tithes  arid 
glebes  from  the  parochial  priests,  and  annexing  them 
to  monasteries,  was  a  modern  encroachment,  defeated 
the  original  settlement,  and  was  no  better  than  down 
right  popery  (for  it  was  the  popes  who  made  these 
appropriations,  and  broke  in  upon  the  ancient  prac 
tice)  ;  still,  the  religious  character  of  the  monks,  and 
their  having  several  priests  to  supply  the  cure,  gave 
some  pretence  for  these  alienations.  But  the  laity 
have  no  character  for  a  plea  of  this  nature ;  they  are 
in  no  condition  to  perform  the  sacerdotal  office,  nor 
discharge  any  of  those  duties,  for  which  the  church 
was  endowed."  So  that,  to  speak  plainly,  as  the 
matter  is,  neither  the  clergy  of  the  church  of  Rome,  in 
former  days,  nor  the  reformed  clergy  of  late,  were  well 
pleased  with  the  alienation  of  tithes,  as  it  was  managed, 
either  by  the  bishops  of  Rome,  or  king  Henry  VIII. 
Originally  the  tithes  belonged  to  the  parochial  clergy. 
Now,  when  monasteries  were  founded  under  the  Saxons, 
lands  were  settled  upon  them  out  of  the  founders'  sub 
stance,  and  it  seldom  happened  that  any  tithes  were 
appropriated  to  them,  unless  they  lay  within  the  pre 
cincts  of  the  convent.  But,  by  degrees,  especially 
when  the  Normans  came  to  govern,  they  had  a  cheaper 

1  Collier,  ii.  163, 


282  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

way  of  founding  religious  houses,  which  was,,  by  strip 
ping  the  parochial  clergy  of  their  tithes,,  and  appro 
priating  them  for  the  subsisting  of  the  monks.  This 
being  commonly  done  by  the  pope's  orders,  and  the 
king's  concurrence,  it  was  in  vain  to  make  any  oppo 
sition.  And,  what  still  farther  incommoded  the  clergy, 
several  of  these  monasteries  obtained  exemptions  from 
episcopal  jurisdiction,  which  was  a  means  of  lessening 
their  power,  as  the  other  was  of  depriving  them  of  a 
great  part  of  their  substance.  All  that  the  clergy 
could  obtain,  upon  such  occasions,  was,  to  become  vicars, 
with  some  small  endowment  of  lesser  tithes.  Now,  at 
the  dissolution,  king  Henry  left  the  vicarages  as  he 
found  them ;  but,  as  for  the  great  tithes,  such  as  were 
appropriated  to  the  monasteries,  most  of  them  were 
bestowed  upon  laymen,  which  has  been  a  continual 
subject  of  complaint  among  the  reformed  clergy,  who 
take  themselves  to  have  a  right  to  all  impropriations, 
as  well  upon  account  of  the  king's  promise,  as  from  the 
nature  of  the  thing  itself,  wilich  seems  not  to  allow  of 
secularizing  tithes.  But,  if  the  reformed  clergy  have 
just  grounds  of  complaints,  certainly  the  catholic 
clergy,  who  were  the  original  proprietors,  have  reason 
to  think  themselves  hardly  dealt  with. 

But,  to  leave  this  digression,  and  proceed  to  a  far 
ther  account  of  the  calamities  occasioned  by  the  disso 
lution.  Foreign  nations  stood  amazed  at  these  pro 
ceedings,  but  were  not  sufficiently  interested  to  show 
their  resentment,  or  begin  a  quarrel,  upon  that  account. 
"  England  herself  sat  sighing  and  groaning,  to  see  her 
wealth  exhausted,  her  money  embased  and  mingled 
with  copper,  her  abbeys  demolished,  which  were  the 
monuments  of  ancient  piety."  l  Like  a  jaded  horse, 
that  has  spent  his  natural  vivacity,  but  is  forced  to  jog 
on,  the  remainder  of  the  journey,  under  the  severe  dis 
cipline  of  the  whip  and  the  spur,  so,  such  as  were  dila 
tory,  or  refused  to  comply  with  the  court-measures,  in 
the  surrender  of  their  lands  and  goods,  were  easily 

1  Hearne's  Camdeii,  i.  11. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  283 

brought  within  the  reach  of  the  late  statutes,  and,  by 
this  means,  great  numbers  were  starved  in  prison,  while 
others  were  publicly  executed,  upon  very  slender  infor 
mation,  and  sometimes  without  any  form  of  law.1 
When  this  behaviour  of  the  king  of  England  is  con 
sidered,  it  will  be  scarcely  surprising  to  find,  that  both 
he  and  his  adherents  are  often  accused  of  avarice,  sacri 
lege,  and  cruelty,  in  the  management  of  this  affair,  and 
this  not  only  by  catholic  writers,  but  also  by  protest- 
ants,  who  have  spoke  their  minds  sincerely,  as  to  this 
matter.2  Neither  is  the  fatality,  which  has  visibly 
attended  the  purchasers  and  possessors  of  abbey-lands, 
to  be  disregarded  ;  for,  though  the  methods  of  divine 
providence  are  not  to  be  pried  into,  with  too  much 
curiosity,  yet  both  sacred  and  profane  history  furnish 
us  with  many  instances,  how  highly  heaven  resents  the 
public  injuries  done  to  the  church  ;  and  this  England 
has  constantly  experienced,  ever  since  king  Henry  VIII. 
made  this  remarkable  seizure  of  the  lands  and  goods 
that  belonged  to  the  church.  Speaking  of  abbey -lands, 
the  younger  Spelman  says,  "  Like  the  dust  flung  up  by 
Moses,  they  presently  disperse  all  the  kingdom  over, 
and  at  once  become  curses,  both  upon  the  families  and 
estates  of  the  owners  ;  they  often  viciously  spending, 
on  their  private  occasions,  what  was  piously  intended 
for  public  devotion  ;  insomuch  that,  within  twenty  years 
next  after  the  dissolution,  more  of  our  nobility,  and  their 
children,  have  been  attainted,  and  died  under  the  sword 
of  justice,  than  did  from  the  conquest  to  the  dissolution, 
being  almost  500  years ;  so  as,  if  thou  examine  the  list 
of  the  barons,  in  the  parliament  of  the  2/th  of  Henry 

1  [Thus  the  three  abbots  of  Reading,  Colchester  and  Glastonbury,  were  exe 
cuted  as  traitors  (Stevens,  Monast.  i.  451,452;  Stowe,  576);  the  members  of 
the  Charterhouse,  committed  to  Newgate,  were  left  to  perish  through  hunger 
and  disease.  They  were  originally  ten  in  number:  but  when  Bedyl,  one  of  the 
visitors,  made  his  report  to  Cromwell,  they  had  been  "  almoost  dispeched  by 
tli'and  of  God,"  to  the  great  gratification  of  the  writer.  The  sum  of  Bedyl's 
report  stands  thus :  "  Ther  be  departed  Greenewode,  Davye,  Salt,  Peereson, 
Greene.  Ther  be  even  at  the  poynt  of  dethe  Scryven,  Reedyng.  Ther  be  sycke 
Jonson,  Hore.  One  is  hole,  Bird."  Ellis,  ii.  76— 78.— 71] 

'*'  "  All  which,  being  by  some  openly  called  rapine  and  sacrilege,  I  will  no 
way  excuse."  Herb.  508. 


284  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

VIII.,  thou  shalt  find  very  few  of  them,  whose  son  doth, 
at  this  day,  inherit  his  father's  title  and  estates ;  and, 
of  those  few,  many  to  whom  the  king's  favour  hath 
restored  what  the  rigorous  law  of  attainder  took,  both 
dignity,  lands,  and  posterity.  And,  doubtless,  the  com 
mons  have  drunk  deep  in  this  cup  of  deadly  wine  ;  but 
they,  being  more  numerous,  and  less  eminent,  are  not  so 
obvious  to  observation."1  "  However,  it  will  not  be  amiss 
to  insert  the  observation  of  a  most  worthy  antiquary 
(the  elder  Spelman),  in  the  county  wherein  he  was  born, 
and  best  experienced ;  who  reporteth,  that,  in  Norfolk 
there  were  one  hundred  houses  of  gentlemen,  before  the 
dissolution  of  abbeys,  possessed  of  fair  estates,  of  whom 
so  many,  as  gained  accession  by  abbey  lands,  are,  at  this 
time,  extinct,  or  much  impaired; — bemoaning  his  own  fa 
mily,  under  the  latter  notion,  as  diminished  by  such  an 
addition." 2  And  I  believe,  he  that  will  take  the  pains  to 
run  through  the  several  counties  of  England,  and  make 
the  same  observation,  will  find,  that,  in  such  families 
as  have  been  possessors  of  abbey  lands,  they  have 
slipped  through  their  fingers,  and  been  prodigally  spent, 
in  all  sorts  of  extravagances,  after  the  example  of  the 
first  invader,  Henry  VIII.,  of  whom  our  historians  re 
late,  "  that  he  made  a  grant  to  a  gentlewoman  of  a  reli 
gious  house,  for  presenting  him  with  a  dish  of  pud 
dings,  which  happened  to  oblige  his  palate ;  that  he 
played  away  many  a  thousand  a-year  belonging  to  the 
monasteries  ;  and,  particularly,  that  Jesus's  bells,  hang 
ing  in  a  steeple  not  far  from  St.  Paul's,  London,  very 
remarkable  both  for  their  size  and  music,  were  lost,  at 
one  thrown,  to  Sir  Miles  Partridge"3  For  the  rest,  I 
remit  the  reader  to  his  own  eyes,  if  he  has  the  curio 
sity  to  view  those  ancient  places  of  divine  worship, 
which  now  are  become  tippling-houses,  stables,  and 
dog-kennels.  And  who  can  behold  such  dismal  heaps 
of  ruined  fabrics,  but  he  will  conclude,  that  some  bar- 

1  Clem.  Spelman,  preface  to  his  father's  treatise  "  De  non  temerandis  ecclesiis," 
p.  42. 

3  Fuller,  371.  3  Stowe's  Survey  of  Lond.  apud  Collier,  ii.  166. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  285 

barous  nation  had  invaded  our  land  ?  But,  when  he 
understands,  that  neither  Goth,  Vandal,  nor  Turk,  but 
a  Christian  king,  had  made  that  havoc  ;  when  he  finds 
that  there  is  nothing  but  the  bare  name  of  reformation 
to  justify  the  undertaking,  how  will  he  be  puzzled  to 
fix  the  gospel  upon  such  a  basis,  where  sacrilege  is 
applauded,  and  recommended  to  posterity,  as  an  eifect 
of  religious  zeal  ? 

King  Henry,  all  this  while,  was  not  ignorant,  that,  as 
what  he  had  done  had  an  evil  aspect,  so  it  could  not 
fail  of  making  an  impression  in  most  people,  very  little 
to  his  reputation ;  wherefore,  to  recover  himself  in  that 
respect,  he  would  do  something  that  looked  well,  in  the 
eye  of  the  world,  and  employ  some  of  the  booty  he  had 
got  from  the  monasteries,  in  pious  uses  ;  as,  indeed,  he 
had  promised  to  do  the  whole.  To  this  purpose,  a  bill 
was  brought  into  parliament,  in  the  year  1539,  with  a 
design  of  erecting  several  new  bishoprics  and  deaneries. 
"  Twas  penned  at  court,  and,  therefore,  it  is  no  wonder 
to  find  some  hard  expressions  bestowed  upon  the  mo 
nasteries."1  By  a  rough  draught  list  in  the  Cottonian 
library,  it  appears,  as  if  there  had  been  a  remote  design, 
at  first,  of  fixing  episcopal  sees  in  the  following  coun 
ties,  viz.  Essex,  Hertfordshire,  Bedfordshire  and  Buck 
inghamshire,  Oxford  and  Berkshire,  Northampton  and 
Huntingdon,  Middlesex,  Leicestershire  and  Rutland 
shire,  Gloucestershire,  Lancashire,  Suffolk,  Stafford  and 
Salop,  Nottingham  and  Derby,  and  lastly,  Cornwall.2 
"  If  it  be  inquired  how  it  came  to  miscarry,  it  may  be 
answered,  the  king  was  disabled  from  executing  this 
project.  He  quickly  exhausted  himself  upon  the  cour 
tiers.  The  measure  of  his  bounty  was  no  less  extraor 
dinary,  than  the  manner  of  his  acquisition,  insomuch, 
that  he  may  be  almost  said  to  have  snatched  with  one 
hand,  only  to  throw  away  with  the  other."3  However, 
in  a  year  or  two,  something  was  effected  of  this  kind ; 


1  Collier,  ii.  172. 

2  Cleopatra,  E.  iv.  304.  [It  is  printed  in  Strype,  i.  Rec.275,  in  Burnet,  i.  251, 
and  in  Collier,  ii.  172.— 71.] 


286  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

and,  before  the  end  of  1542,  six  new  bishoprics  were 
erected,  and  endowed,  viz.  Westminster,  Chester,  Glou 
cester,  Peterborough,  Oxford,  and  Bristol ;  as  also  eight 
deaneries,  Canterbury,  Winchester,  Ely,  Norwich,  Wor 
cester,  Rochester,  Durham,  and  Carlisle ;  to  which  may 
be  added  two  hospitals,  Christchurch,  or  the  Greyfriars, 
and  St.  Bartholomew's  ;  and  to  these  Trinity  college  in 
Cambridge,  and  King's  college  in  the  said  university, 
which  were  founded,  the  latter  end  of  Henry  VIII., 
and  the  beginning  of  the  succeeding  reign.1  If  these 
foundations  were  designed  by  way  of  restitution  to 
the  church,  they  bore  no  proportion ;  the  revenues  of 
two  or  three  of  the  greater  monasteries  would  have 
answered  all  the  expense.  However,  they  served  a  turn, 
and  stopped  a  great  deal  of  clamour.  "  Besides,  all  the 
bishoprics  of  king  Henry  VIII.'s  erection  were  so  la 
mentably  impoverished,  that  the  new  bishops,  at  their 
first  promotion,  were  forced  to  beg  for  their  living,  and 
subsist  on  the  benevolence  of  their  clergy.""  Again, 
Westminster,  after  a  few  years,  was  struck  out  of  the 
number ;  and  king  Henry,  as  if  he  repented  for  this  fit 
of  zeal,  in  returning  so  much  back  to  the  church,  made 
reprisals  upon  several  ancient  episcopal  sees.  Seventy 
manors  belonging  to  York  were  taken  away  by  act  of 
parliament,  and  Holgate,  the  archbishop,  had  very  little 
in  exchange ;  the  greatest  part  of  the  lands  belonging 
to  Durham  were  many  years  secularized ;  Cranmer 

1  Fuller,  338,  339;  Herb.  508.  [Henry's  foundations  are  not  all  comprised 
in  this  list.    From  an  instrument  in  Rymer  (xv.  77),  we  know  that  he  converted 
fourteen  abbeys  and  priories  into  cathedral  and  collegiate  churches,  that  he 
erected  a  dean  and  chapter  in  each,  and  that  to  each  of  these  he  assigned  a  com 
petent  endowment,  in  manors,  lands,  and  other  possessions.     They  were,  Can 
terbury,  Rochester,  Westminster,  Winchester,  Bristol,  Gloucester,  Worcester, 
Chester,  Burton-on -Trent,  Carlisle,  Durham,  Thornton,   Peterborough,  and 
Ely.     To  these,  however,  he  attached  the  obligation  of  contributing  largely  to^ 
wards  the  support  of  their  own  poor,  and  the  repair  of  the  highways,  in  their 
own  immediate  district.     The  chapters  of  Canterbury  and  Westminster  were 
each  to  pay  WOl.  annually  to  the  poor,  and  40/.  towards  the  repair  of  the  high 
ways:  the  others  were  to  contribute  different  sums,  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  their  revenues.     See  also  Burnet,  i.  286, 287,  and  Rec.  229.— TV) 

2  Collier,  ii.  480.     [It  is  necessary,    however,  to  remark,    that  Collier  is 
here  speaking,  not  of  the  spoliations  committed  by  Henry,  but  of  those  which 
took  place  under  Edward.     The  "  new  bishops "  were  those  introduced  by 
Elizabeth.— 71.] 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  287 

parted  with  twelve  good  manors  belonging  to  Canter 
bury  ;  Bonner,  bishop  of  London,  was  obliged  to  com 
pliment  the  crown  with  several  houses  belonging  to  his 
see,  &C.1  The  king,  indeed,  after  his  usual  manner, 
assured  his  people,  that  such  alienations  should  be  no 
detriment  either  to  piety  or  learning;  but,  whatever  his 
intentions  were,  he  lived  not  to  make  good  his  promise ; 
on  the  contrary,  as  his  necessities  daily  increased,  so  he 
continued,  to  his  dying  day,  to  usurp  upon  the  temporals 
of  the  clergy  ;  and  had  the  assurance  to  make  his  com 
plaints,  that  he  had  been  at  a  great  charge  in  dissolving 
the  monasteries,  and  reforming  abuses  in  the  church, 
and,  as  he  was  out  of  pocket,  he  hoped  his  people  would 
consider  of  some  way  to  reimburse  him.2  And  they  had 
the  goodness  to  do  it ;  for  in  a  little  time  a  way  was 
found  out. 

There  were  still  a  great  many  tempting  morsels  in 
the  hands  of  churchmen,  which  were  full  as  liable  to 
seizure  as  the  monastic  lands ;  such  were  collegiate 
churches,  hospitals,  chantries,  free-chapels,  guilds,  &C., 
which  were  all  endowed,  and  were  capable  of  furnish 
ing  the  exchequer  with  an  immense  sum,  when  their 


1  [Cranmer's,  Holgate's  and  Bomier's  alienations  were  confirmed — they  had 
been  made  in  the  preceding  year — by  the  act  37  Hen.  VIII.  c.  16 :  but  the 
suppression  of  Westminster,  and  the  secularization  of  the  revenues  of  Durham, 
did  not  take  place  till  the  following  reign  (Rymer,  xv.  219;  Godwin  in  vit. 
Tonstal,  756).     Besides  the  twelve  manors  above  mentioned,  Cranmer  also 
conveyed  to  Henry  the  two  magnificent  palaces  of  Oxiord  and  Knowle,  in  Kent. 
Strype's  Cranmer,  282.— T.] 

2  [As  an  illustration,  if  illustration  be  necessary,  of  Henry's  "  assurance"  in 
this  proceeding,  I  may  here  refer  to  an  interesting  document,  printed  under  the 
direction  of  William  B.  D.  D.  Turnbull,  Esq.,  the  learned  secretary  of  the  Ab- 
botsford  Club,  and  by  him  presented  to  his  fellow  members.     It  is  the  account- 
roll  of  Sir  John  Williams,  the  keeper  of  the  jewels  to  Henry  VIII.,  and  con 
tains  an  inventory  of  all  the  plate,  jewels,  and  other  valuables,  obtained  by  the 
king  from  the  plunder  of  the  religious  houses.     From  this  it  appears,  that,  in 
plate  alone,  there  were  taken  from  the  monasteries,  cathedrals,  and  shrines, 
14,531  ounces  of  gold,  67,600  ounces  of  silver,  and  207,635  ounces  of  silver- 
rrilt :_ making,  with  the  addition  of  some  fractional  parts,  a  total,  in  gold  and 
silver,  of  rather  more  than  289,768   ounces  of  plate.     This  was  sold  for 
£73,531.  155.  Id. ;  to  which,  if  we  add  the  further  sum  of  £79,471.  5s.  9fd. 
obtained  in  money,  and  entered  on  the  same  roll,  we  shall  have  a  gross  amount 
of  £153,003.  Os.  lO^d.  derived  to  the  exchequer,  over  and  above  the  produce 
of  all  the  lands  and  estates  of  the  monasteries.— TV} 


288  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

NOV.  lands,  pensions,  and  goods  were  disposed  of.  When 
1545  the  matter  was  proposed  in  parliament,  it  could 
not  fail  taking  effect ;  plausible  reasons  were  ready  to 
render  them  obnoxious,  and  the  king  had  friends  enough, 
in  both  houses,  to  favour  the  project.  Accordingly,  a 
bill  passed,  in  the  year  1545,  for  the  seizure,  and  settle 
ment  of  them  upon  the  crown.1  The  number  of  these 
religious  establishments  is  said  to  have  been  two  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-four,  erected  in  several 
ages,  chiefly  by  the  subject,  whose  property  was  now 
invaded  by  a  power  without  appeal.  The  use  of  these 
foundations  was,  the  maintaining  of  the  poor,  sick,  and 
aged  persons,  with  a  number  of  priests  to  assist  them  ; 
with  a  farther  obligation  of  praying  for  the  founders, 
and  their  relations,  living  and  dead.  "  Some  people 
would  almost  be  at  a  loss,  upon  this  occasion ;  for,  when 
purgatory,  though  somewhat  refined,  was  the  national 
belief,  as  it  was,  all  the  time  of  King  Henry  VIII. ; 
when  prayer  for  the  dead  was  reckoned  a  significant 
service  ;  when  this  prince  left  money  in  his  will,  to 
pray  for  his  soul ;  when  this  was  the  general  persuasion, 
it  is  somewhat  surprising,  that  chantry  lands  should 
be  taken  away."'  Indeed,  the  colleges  within  the  two 
universities,  upon  earnest  application,  escaped  being 
reformed,  that  is,  suppressed ;  and  the  same  indulgence 
was  extended  to  the  colleges  of  Winchester  and  Eton, 
the  chapel  of  St.  George,  at  Windsor,  and  a  few  others. 
Now,  as  Alexander  the  Great  is  said  to  have  wept,  when 
he  understood  there  were  no  more  worlds  to  conquer, 
that  he  might  give  content  to  the  utmost  demands  of 
his  ambition ;  so  king  Henry  VIII.  was  uneasy,  under 
his  sacrilegious  disabilities,  and  scandalous  generosity, 
and  earnestly  desired  that  there  had  been  more  conse 
crated  ground  to  have  bestowed  upon  his  flattering  cour 
tiers.  There  was,  it  is  true,  plenty  of  game  before  him, 
but  of  another  kind  ;  he  made  a  set,  but  death  prevented 
him,  as  he  was  drawing  his  net.  For,  before  he  died, 
designing  to  gratify  and  raise  several  noblemen,  and 

1  Stat.  37  Hen.  VIII.  c.  4.  2  Collier,  ii.  207. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  289 

having  no  church  abbey  lands  left,  he  designed  to  have 
bestowed  the  next  vacant  bishoprics  and  prebendaries 
upon  them,  and  a  book  was  drawn  up  for  that  purpose ; 
but  he  died  before  the  grants  were  signed,  or  executed. 
This  was  signified  to  the  sixteen  (his  executors),,  by 
Paget,  Denny,  and  Herbert,  who  were  witnesses  to  the 
king's  design.1 

Before  I  finish  this  account  of  the  dissolution  of  mo 
nasteries,  I  will  take  the  liberty  to  make  a  few  reflec 
tions,  concerning  the  merits  of  the  cause,  and  what  the 
party  under  oppression  might  allege  in  their  defence,  in 
point  of  common  equity,  and  according  to  the  best 
notions  the  most  rational  part  of  mankind  would  enter 
tain,  in  cases  of  the  like  nature.  In  perusing  what 
happened  at  the  treaty  of  Uxbridge,  in  the  year  1646, 
I  remember,  when  the  managers  of  the  rebellious  party 
insisted,  that  presbytery  might,  for  the  future,  be  the 
established  religion  of  the  kingdom,  the  divines  that 
were  present,  in  order  to  support  the  cause  of  the  king 
and  church,  as  it  was  established  by  law,  under  episco 
pacy,  &c.,  alleged  these  reasons  against  the  proposal : — 
They  argued,  "  first,  from  the  point  of  perjury,  the  king 
having  taken  a  solemn  oath  to  maintain  the  rights  of 
the  church ;  next,  in  point  of  sacrilege,  by  the  aliena 
tion  of  things  offered  to  God  ;  and  lastly,  from  the  point 
of  divine  right."2  If  the  case  is  not  exactly  parallel 
with  that  between  the  clergy  and  religious,  and  king 
Henry  VIIL,  it  comes  near  to  it.  King  Henry  had 
taken  an  oath,  to  maintain  the  church  in  all  its  rights ; 
the  lands  he  seized  and  alienated  were  consecrated  to 
God;  and  the  clergy, in  those  days, had  as  good  a  claim  to 
jus  divinum,  as  the  church  of  England  could  pretend  to, 
when  their  bishops  were  threatened  to  be  turned  out  of 
possession,  and  suppressed  by  the  presbyters.  All  the 
difference  seems  to  be  this  ;  that,  in  one  case,  the  con 
tending  party  were  rebels,  whereas  king  Henry  pro 
ceeded  in  a  legal  and  parliamentary  way.  But  until  it 
can  be  made  appear,  that  the  civil  powrer  can  dispense 

1  Burnet,  ii.  6,  7;  Collier,  ii.  219.  2  Echard,  ii.  517. 

VOL.  I.  U 


290  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

with  oaths,  seize  upon  lands  and  goods  consecrated  to 
God,  and  destroy  the  divine  right  of  the  church,  in 
matters  of  faith,  the  parallel  still  stands  good,  as  to  the 
merits  of  the  cause  ;  and  whatever  arguments  king 
Charles  I.'s  divines  made  use  of,  to  defend  their  church 
by  law  established,  against  the  presbyters,  would  have 
been  of  force  against  king  Henry  VIII.  And,  indeed, 
Providence  seems  to  have  had  a  design  to  retaliate  upon 
the  church  of  England,  and  that  it  should  not  only  fall 
by  the  same  weapons,  which  it  had  made  use  of  against 
others,  but  several  other  circumstances  occurred,  to  oc 
casion  such  reflections.  The  church  of  England  dated 
its  misfortunes  from  the  Long  Parliament,  November  3, 
1640.  "The  very  day  was  thought  ominous  ;  so  that, 
before  the  appointed  time,  some  persuaded  the  arch 
bishop  (Laud)  to  move  the  king,  to  have  the  sitting 
respited  for  a  day  or  two  longer  ;  because  the  parlia 
ment  in  Henry  VIII. 's  reign,  which  ended  with  the 
diminution  of  the  clergy's  power,  and  the  dissolution  of 
religious  houses,  began  the  same  day.  But  the  arch 
bishop  took  little  notice  of  the  advertisement.1" 

The  reader  may  make  what  reflections  he  pleases,  upon 
these  and  such  like  passages,  and,  questionless,  they  will 
move  him  to  some  little  compassion  for  the  proprietors 
of  the  dissolved  monasteries,  upon  account  of  the  resem 
blance  they  bear  with  the  suffering  state  of  the  church 
of  England.  And  I  suppose  it  is  upon  this  score,  that 
several  learned  and  good-natured  protestant  authors 
have  ventured  to  appear  in  defence  of  the  monasteries, 
and  attacked  the  instruments  of  their  ruin,  as  far  as  de 
cency  would  permit  them  to  question  a  power,  which 
could  not  be  controled.  For  "  it  is  pretty  plain  the  lives 
of  the  religious  were  not  so  irregular  as  some  authors 
represent  them.  But  granting  this  charge  had  been 
true,  it  would  have  been  no  sufficient  reason  to  have 
seized  their  estates.  If  insobriety  and  misbehaviour  were 
sufficient  grounds  for  forfeiture  ;  if  ill  living,  and  not 
answering  the  ends  of  an  estate,  would  justify  the  dis- 

1  Ibid.  194. 


ART.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  291 

possessing  the  owner,  property  would  be  very  precari 
ous,  and  the  English  tenures  slenderly  guarded.  For  if 
we  consider  the  matter  closely,  all  Christians  are  bound 
to  strict  living,  to  discipline,  to  large  distributions  of 
charity,  little  less  than  the  monks.  They  are  false  to 
the  engagement  of  baptism,  if  they  manage  otherwise. 
The  monastic  institutions  were  principally  designed  to 
revive  the  piety  of  the  ancient  Christians,  and  bring  up 
practice  to  the  rule  of  the  gospel. 

"  Farther,  if  degeneracy  and  misbehaviour  were  the 
grand  motive  for  dissolution,  why  were  they  not  put  un 
der  a  better  management  ?  Why  had  they  not  some 
trial  for  reformation?  If  unnecessary  expense,  and 
omission  of  kindness  to  the  poor,  if  luxury  and  license 
are  good  reasons  to  change  the  owner,  and  determine 
the  estate,  if  this  will  hold,  we  should  have  strange 
transferring  of  titles.  At  this  rate,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
some  people  would  have  a  very  slender  claim  to  their 
abbey  lands. 

"  But  if  immorality,  or  mis-spending  of  revenue,  is 
no  sufficient  reason  for  defeating  of  titles,  why  did  the 
monasteries  suffer  ?  why  must  the  church  be  dispossessed 
upon  this  score  ?  why  were  those  monasteries,  which 
were  unexceptionable  in  their  management,  which  were 
charitable  to  the  poor,  and  hospitable  to  the  rich,  why 
were  these  involved  in  the  common  fate,  and  condemned 
to  dissolution  with  the  rest  ?  By  the  evidence  of  records, 
there  were  many  more  righteous  monasteries  in  England, 
than  righteous  men  in  Sodom.  However,  this  over 
balance  of  merit  could  not  divert  the  calamity,  nor  pre 
serve  them  from  ruin.  Thus  we  see  how  much  the 
mercies  of  God  are  greater  than  those  of  men.  Justice 
below  is  sometimes  blind  upon  mysterious  motives, 
strikes  without  distinction,  and  sweeps  away  the  inno 
cent  with  the  guilty. 

"  If  the  monks  were  tied  to  greater  strictness  than 
others,  are  not  the  owners  of  abbey  lands  bound  to  take 
their  estates  with  the  conditions  annexed  ?  If  strict 
living,  sober  hospitality,  and  serviceableness  to  the  poor, 
are  accounted  incumbrances,  the  abbey  lands  seem 

U  2 


292  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

chargeable  with  them.  For,  though  princes'  charters  and 
acts  of  parliament  may  convey  a  legal  title,  yet,  that 
they  can  destroy  the  force  of  consecrations,  dispense 
with  the  meaning  of  the  founders,  and  defeat  the  design 
of  the  original  grant,  is  farther  than  I  can  discover.  Acts 
of  parliament  have,  without  question,  authority  to  over 
rule  claims,  and  extinguish  titles,  and  govern  the  courts 
of  justice.  But  are  not  some  things  above  the  reach  of 
the  legislature  ?  Can  a  statute  unconsecrate  a  church, 
enact  Sunday  no  holy-day,  or  sacrilege  no  sin  ?  Is  not 
God  Almighty  capable  of  property  ?  If  we  must  answer 
in  the  affirmative,  how  can  an  estate,  dedicated  to  his 
service,  and  vested  in  him,  be  taken  away  without  his 
consent  ?  Which  way  can  the  intention  of  the  donor, 
and  the  main  design  of  the  conveyance,  be  overlooked 
and  defeated  ?  Regularity  and  largeness  of  mind,  there 
fore,  are  the  least  that  can  be  expected  from  the  abbey 
proprietors  :  these,  it  may  be,  are  the  lowest  requisites, 
to  make  such  alienations  inoffensive  to  them.  And, 
therefore,  when  those,  who  enjoy  these  religious  estates, 
rack  their  tenants,  or  overlook  the  poor,  when  they  ex 
haust  themselves  in  figure  or  licentiousness  ;  when  any 
thing  of  this  happens,  the  intention  of  the  pious  settle 
ment  is  lamentably  disappointed ;  the  misapplication  is 
doubly  criminal ;  and,  without  reformation,  it  is  much 
to  be  feared,  the  curse  of  the  founders  will  light  upon 
them.  To  be  better  enabled  to  ridicule  virtue,  to  brow 
beat  religion,  or  set  a  fashion  in  vice,  is  wide  of  the  de 
sign  of  a  religious  foundation.  Those,  therefore,  who 
are  possessed  of  these  lands,  should  be  particularly  care 
ful  in  these  matters. 

"  It  is  said,  the  monasteries,  colleges,  &c.  were  of  a 
royal  foundation  ;  and,  therefore,  the  taking  them  away 
was  only  a  resumption  of  grants  from  the  crown.  To 
this  it  will  be  answered,  the  assertion  is  wide  of  matter 
of  fact,  and  that  many  of  the  abbeys,  &c.  were  founded 
by  bishops  and  temporal  lords,  and  some  by  subjects  of 
lesser  quality.1  Besides,  all  the  estates  in  the  kingdom 

1  Dugdale,  in  his  Monasticon,  gives  an  account  of  a  great  many  monasteries 
founded  by  subjects :  and  Fuller  (p.  326)  names  ten  monasteries  founded  by  one 
family  of  the  Berkeleys. 


AST.  iv.]  MONASTERIES  DISSOLVED.  293 

were  grants  from  the  crown,  as  appears  from  the  tenures; 
and  yet  it  would  have  been  looked  upon  as  an  arbitrary 
attempt,  to  have  taken  them  away  :  for  a  gift  is  a  trans 
lation  of  right,  extinguishes  the  title  of  the  donor,  and 
vests  the  property  in  another. 

"  But  this  alienation  of  abbey  lands  was  made  by  act 
of  parliament.  That  is  true,  and,  therefore,  it  was  a 
legal  ousting.  But  then  it  will  be  asked,  if  a  great  part 
of  the  temporal  lords,  and  others  of  the  rich  laity,  had 
been  thrown  out  of  their  estates  by  a  statute  ;  if  this  had 
happened,  the  question  is,  whether  such  proceedings 
would  not  have  been  thought  an  instance  of  rigour,  and 
a  mysterious  exercise  of  authority  ?  Had  they  been 
thus  impoverished,  without  treason  or  felony  to  deserve 
it,  it  may  be,  the  legality  of  the  form,  and  the  pleasure 
of  the  legislators,  would  hardly  have  reconciled  them 
to  such  usage.  They  could  riot  have  argued  against  the 
force  of  the  law  ;  but  the  friendship  of  those  that  made 
it  would  not  have  been  so  clear.  Farther,  the  endow 
ments  of  the  church  were  settled,  upon  important  con 
siderations,  for  the  honour  of  God.  for  the  advancement 
of  learning,  for  the  interest  of  eternity  ;  and,  therefore, 
in  acts  of  resumption,  the  church  hath  been  particularly 
exempted. 

"  Lastly,  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  church  had 
been  confirmed  in  thirty  parliaments.  This  made  some 
people  think  it  strange,  that  king  Henry  VIII. 's  parlia 
ments  should  be  of  so  very  different  a  sentiment  from 
those  in  former  reigns."1  And,  to  speak  plainly  to  the 
matter,  were  things  of  this  nature  to  be  attempted  in 

1  Collier,  ii.  161,  162.  [I  cannot  forbear  adding  the  passage,  with  which  this 
writer  closes  his  excellent  remarks  on  this  subject.  "  It  must  be  confessed," 
says  he,  "there  were  several  shocking  circumstances, in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII., 
and  his  children's.  For,  to  see  churches  pulled  down,  or  rifled,  the  plate  swept 
off  the  altar,  and  the  holy  furniture  converted  to  common  use,  had  no  great  air 
of  devotion.  To  see  the  choir  undressed,  to  make  the  drawing-room  and  bed 
chamber  fine,  was  not  very  primitive,  at  first  view.  The  forced  surrender  of 
abbeys,  the  maiming  of  bishoprics,  and  lopping  the  best  branches  of  their  reve 
nues,  the  stopping  impropriated  tithes  from  passing  in  the  ancient  channel,  these 
things  are  apt  to  puzzle  a  vulgar  capacity.  Unless  a  man's  understanding  is 
more  than  ordinarily  improved,  he  will  be  at  a  loss  to  reconcile  these  measures 
with  Christian  maxims,  and  make  them  fall  in  with  conscience  and  reformation." 
p.  163.  T:\ 


294  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

the  present  age  in  which  we  live,,  "  it  would  be  very  much 
a  question,  whether  the  heirs  of  abbey  lands  would  be  so 
compliant  with  the  crown,  and  part  so  easily  with  their 
money,  as  the  monks  had  usually  done.  The  sending 
for  loans  might  probably  be  looked  on  as  arbitrary  de 
mands,  and  invasions  of  property ;  and  though  the 
squeezing  a  defenceless  order,  would,  it  may  be,  go  off 
in  a  jest,  or  pass  for  a  public  convenience,  yet  such  an 
experiment  upon  men  of  title  and  interest,  of  steel  and 
stomach,  might  prove  dangerous  in  the  operation," ! 
One  observation  more  may  be  added  to  all  the  rest,  in 
opposition  to  these  proceedings  of  king  Henry  VIII., 
that  the  wisest  princes  in  Europe  (besides  religion, 
which  deterred  them  from  it)  found  no  conveniences  in 
following  his  example.  They  knew  how  to  preserve 
their  civil  rights,  without  encroaching  upon  the  liberties 
of  the  church,  and  had  other  ways  of  bearing  the  ex 
penses  of  their  wars,  and  gratifying  persons  of  merit, 
than  by  plundering  the  house  of  God,  and  seizing  upon 
its  revenues.  The  religious  orders  were  always  ready 
to  assist  their  prince,  both  with  their  prayers  and  purses, 
upon  all  occasions,  and,  therefore,  they  were  encouraged 
and  protected  by  them.  This  is  a  double  blessing  king 
Henry  VIII.  deprived  himself  of;  so  that  "when  the 
emperor  Charles  heard  of  the  fate  of  the  English  abbeys, 
and  into  what  channels  their  revenues  were  turned,  he 
is  reported  to  have  said,  that  now  the  king  had  killed 
the  hen,  which  laid  him  the  golden  eggs."2 

1  Collier,  ii.  176.  2  Ibid.  ii.  176. 


ART.  v.]         ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.          295 


ARTICLE    V. 


ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS — WRITINGS  OF  TYNDAL  AND  OTHERS  CONDEMNED 
BY  THE  CONVOCATION THE  BISHOPS  DIVIDED  INTO  TWO  PARTIES — ARTI 
CLES  OF  DOCTRINE — "THE  INSTITUTION  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  MAN5' INJUNC 
TIONS  PUBLISHED  BY  CRANMER  AND  CROMWELL — INTRIGUES  WITH  SCOT 
LAND  AND  FRANCE — UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT  TO  FORM  A  UNION  WITH  THE 
GERMAN  PRINCES — KING'S  MARRIAGE  WITH  ANNE  OF  CLEVES — IT  IS  AN 
NULLED DANGER  OF  QUEEN  CATHERINE  PARR — ATTEMPTS  OF  CRANMER 

— STATUTE  OF  THE  SIX  ARTICLES — CRANMER  ACCUSED  OF  HERESY — HE  IS 
SUMMONED  BEFORE  THE  PRIVY-COUNCIL BUT  IS  SAVED  BY  THE  INTER 
FERENCE  OF  HENRY — "ERUDITION  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  MAN" — THE  "BOOK  OF 

CEREMONIES." 

GREAT  changes  have  been  brought  about,  both  in  church 
and  state,  without  any  formed  design  in  the  beginning ; 
only  as  they  were  favoured  by  incident  matters,  and 
taken  up  by  some  bold  and  enterprizing  genius,  to  give 
them  the  advantage  of  a  project.  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  case  of  the  English  nation,  in  king  Charles  I.'s 
reign,  when  the  people  designing  only  to  petition  for 
their  rights,  and  against  some  encroachments  of  the 
royal  prerogative,  their  king  was  beheaded,  and  both 
their  church  and  monarchy  subverted.  An  instance  of 
the  same  kind  was  the  attempt  of  Martin  Luther,  in 
Germany,  by  whom  a  private  quarrel  with  the  Dominican 
friars,  concerning  indulgences,  was  so  improved,  that  it 
ended  in  a  defection  from  the  church,  which  he  himself 
owned  he  never  designed,  nor  did  he  think  it  would  have 
had  that  consequence.  These  reflections  may  be  justly 
applied  to  the  reformation  in  England.  "  All  that  was 
done,  in  order  to  it,  under  Henry  VIII.,  seemed  to  be 
accidental  only,  and,  by  the  by,  rather  designed  on  pri 
vate  ends,  than  out  of  any  settled  purpose  to  reform  the 
church."1  Yet  these  matters  proved  to  be  an  introduc 
tion  to  what  happened  afterwards.  For,  while  king 
Henry  was  quarrelling  with  the  see  of  Rome,  concern 
ing  the  divorce,  and  other  matters  that  fell  under  de- 

1  Heylin,in  pref.  p.  4.  *  J 


296  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

bate,  some,  that  were  inclined  to  favour  Lutheranism, 
and  other  notions  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  uni 
versal  church,  made  a  hand  of  the  confusion  the  nation 
was  in,  and,  both  by  books  and  private  conferences, 
persuaded  a  great  many  to  embrace  their  opinions.  Be 
sides  the  present  differences  with  the  see  of  Rome,  many 
other  things  concurred  to  encourage  the  humour  of  re 
forming.  The  leaven  of  Lollard  ism  had  formerly  infected 
some  in  both  universities ;  and  they  never  wrere  so  en 
tirely  freed  from  it,  but  that,  now  and  then,  some  obscure 
person  was  questioned  and  detected.  Cardinal  Wolsey's 
new  college  being  lately  provided  with  professors  of 
great  parts  and  learning,  their  fame  drew  over  several 
persons  from  abroad,  who  happened  sometimes  to  be 
suspected  for  novelties  in  religion.  Again,  the  king  had 
sent  several  agents  abroad  into  Germany,  to  take  care 
of  his  interest  in  the  controversy  about  the  divorce, 
where,  by  conversing  with  some  eminent  Lutherans, 
they  had  received  a  favourable  impression  of  their  doc 
trine.  Among  these  agents,  Dr.  Cranmer  and  sir  Rich 
ard  Morison  were  the  most  remarkable,  having  ever 
after  discovered  their  inclination  towards  Lutheranism. 
To  these  we  may  add  Thomas  Cromwell,  whose  educa 
tion  in  the  Lutheran  army,  that  plundered  Rome,  gave 
him  an  aversion  to  the  holy  see,  and,  indeed,  to  all 
churchmen  in  general.  Now,  though  king  Henry  was 
far  from  countenancing  the  doctrine  of  the  German  re 
formers,  yet  he  was  sometimes  unguarded  in  their  favour, 
while  they  soothed  him  up,  in  his  resentments  against 
the  bishop  of  Rome.  Under  these  favourable  circum 
stances,  several  reformers  set  their  engines  a-working  ; 
books  of  an  evil  tendency,  and  satirical  discourses,  were 
daily  published  and  handed  about,  to  create  in  the  peo 
ple  a  dislike  to  the  practices  of  the  church,  and  bring 
both  the  clergy  and  religious  into  disrepute.  This 
awakened  archbishop  Warham,  who  consulted  with  his 
brethren  how  to  put  a  stop  to  the  growing  mischief; 
wherefore,  in  a  synod,  which  assembled  at  Lambeth, 
May  24,  1530,  inquiry  was  made  after  several  books, 
practices,  and  opinions,  which  not  only  endangered  both 


Afrr.  v.]  ATTEMFfS  OF  REFORMERS.  297 

church  and  state,  but  seemed  to  be  levelled  against  reli 
gion  in  general.1 

Amona:  other  books,  that  were  censured  by  the 
synod,  one  was  ascribed  to  Mr.  Tyndal,  entitled, 
Wicked  Mammon.  It  contained  very  extravagant  opin 
ions,  viz.  that  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  consent  to  the 
will  of  God  ;  that  Christ,  in  all  his  deeds,  did  not  deserve 
heaven  ;  that  no  work  was  better  than  another,  in  order 
to  please  God ;  that  the  commandments  were  given  us, 
not  to  do  them,  but  to  know  our  damnation  ;  that  cere 
monies  had  brought  the  world  from  God,  &c.  They  cen 
sured  another  book,  called,  The  Revelation  of  Anti 
christ,  in  which  the  author  inveighs  against  religious 
vows,  and  monastic  institutions,  as  calculated  to  destroy 
the  true  faith ;  adding,  that  Alexander  Hales  and  St. 
Thomas  of  Aquin  were  stars  fallen  from  heaven,  railing 
at  them  for  introducing  learning  into  the  universities, 
which  he  styled  the  gates  of  hell.  In  fine,  he  was  for 
abolishing  all  laws  and  ceremonies  whatever.  A  book 
was  also  condemned,  which  was  named,  The  Sum  of  the 
Scripture,  being  a  rhapsody  of  very  extravagant  as 
sertions,  viz.,  that  there  was  no  baptism  besides  faith  in 
Christ ;  that  there  was  no  occasion  of  labouring  to  be 
come  Christ's  heirs,  being  so  already ;  that  all  law-suits 

1  [This,  however,  was  not  the  first  occasion,  on  which  Warham's  zeal  had  been 
awakened  by  the  writings  of  the  reformers.  Four  years  earlier,  he  had  addressed 
a  mandate  to  the  bishops  of  his  province,  denouncing  the  translation  of  the 
New  Testament,  by  Tyndal,  as  a  false  and  adulterated  version ;  ordering  that 
and  other  books  to  be  called  in  and  destroyed;  and  threatening  the  penalty  of 
excommunication  on  any  person,  who  should  presume  to  retain  any  one  of  the 
proscribed  volumes,  after  the  expiration  of  the  next  thirty  days  (Wilkins,  iii. 
706).  In  the  present  instance,  however,  he  was  seconded  by  the  authority  of 
Henry,  who,  in  a  letter  to  the  vice-chancellors  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
lamented  the  existence  of  "  ceitayn  printed  bokes  conteyning  erronious  and 
pestiferous  wordes,  sentences,  and  conclusions,"  and  required  each  of  them  to 
select  and  send  to  London  immediately  twelve  "  of  the  beste  lerned  men  in 
divinitie,"  by  whose  "  advices  and  judgementes"  he  was  resolved  "  to  vieu  and 
peruse  the  said  bokes,"  and  "  to  take  such  ordre  and  direction  in  that  matter  as 
might  be  to  the  pleasur  of  God,  the  advauncement  of  the  truthe,  and  the  re- 
pressyng  of  errours  and  seditions.""  The  letter  to  the  vice-chancellor  of  Cam 
bridge,  which  has  been  lately  published  by  Dr.  Lamb  (Collection  of  Letters,  &c, 
p.  26),  is  dated  May  4,  1 530 ;  the  persons,  appointed  in  consequence  of  it  to 
attend  the  king,  were  Doctors  Watson,  Wygan,  Crome,  Downes,  and  the 
Masters  Shaxton,  Latymer,  Thyxtell,  Button,  Tylson,  Skyppes.  Hethe,  and 
Bayne.  Ibid.— 7'.] 


298  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

were  directly  against  the  Gospel,  as  also  war  between 
nation  and  nation  ;  and  that  no  submission  was  due  to 
the  civil  magistrate,  only  to  avoid  offence.  This  synod 
likewise  condemned  the  book,  called  The  Supplication 
of  Beggars,  with  which  the  reader  is  already  acquainted. 
In  like  manner,  it  condemned  Tyndal's  translation  of 
the  Bible,  and  gave  directions  for  a  new  one ;  and  con 
cluded  with  an  admonition,  drawn  up  against  the  novel 
ties  of  the  times,  which  was  to  be  published  in  every 
parish  church.1  It  was  upon  this  occasion,  that  the 
dawning  of  the  reformation  began  to  appear ;  which, 
being  nursed  up  in  corners,  crawled  about  the  kingdom 
for  a  while,  till,  majesty  and  men  in  power  beginning 
to  shine  upon  the  embryo,  and  many  temporal  advan 
tages  concurring  to  cherish  its  growth,  it  started  up  to 
a  surprising  size,  in  the  ensuing  reign.  For,  by  degrees, 
the  reformation  found  powerful  advocates,  both  in  church 

1  [Collier,  ii.  48 — 52.  In  a  long  extract  from  the  register  of  archbishop 
Warham,  this  writer  gives  a  list  of  the  erroneous  doctrines  of  each  of  the  con 
demned  books,  together  with  the  admonition  directed  to  be  read  in  the  parish 
churches.  The  object  of  the  latter  is,  to  deter  the  people  from  reading  the  pro 
scribed  works.  "  Wherefore,"  it  says,  "  you  that  have  the  books,  called  The 
Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man,  The  Sum  of  Scripture,  The  Revelation  of  Anti- 
Christ,  The  Supplication  of  Beggars,  Mammon,  The  Matrimony  of  Tindale, 
The  New  Testament  in  .English,  of  the  translation  that  is  now  printed,  and  such 
other  books  in  English,  the  authors  whereof  either  dare  not,  ne  do  not,  put  to 
their  names,  be  unknown  unto  you,  or  else  be  such  as  have  put  forth  these  per 
nicious  books,  detest  them,  abhor  them,  keep  them  not  in  your  hands,  deliver 
them  to  the  superiors,  such  as  call  for  them ;  and  if,  by  reading  of  them  hereto 
fore,  any  thing  remains  in  your  breast  of  that  teaching,  either  forget  it,  or,  by 
information  of  the  truth,  expel  it  and  purge  it,  to  the  intent,  that  ye,  so  purified 
and  cleansed  of  that  contagious  doctrine  and  pestiferous  traditions,  may  be  fit 
and  apt  to  receive  and  retain  the  true  doctrine  and  understanding  of  Christ's 
laws,  to  the  comfort  and  edification  of  your  souls."  It  then  proceeds  to  speak 
more  particularly  of  the  inspired  writings.  It  reminds  the  people,  that  that 
"  cannot  require  or  demand  scripture  to  be  divulged  in  the  English  tongue, 
otherwise  than  upon  the  discretions  of  the  superiors :"  it  informs  them,  that, 
looking  at "  the  pestilent  books  and  evil  opinions  now  spread  among  them," 
the  king  cannot, in  his  conscience,  permit  the  publication  of  the  sacred  volumes, 
in  the  vulgar  tongue:  but  it  promises,  nevertheless,  on  behalf  of  his  Majesty, 
that,  if  they  will  "abhor  the  heresies  and  new  opinions"  of  the  time,  if  they  will 
"  decline  from  arrogancy  of  knowledge,  and  understanding  of  Scripture  after 
their  own  phantasies,"  his  highness  will  "  cause  the  New  Testament  to  be,  by 
learned  men,  faithfully  and  purely  translated,"  and  will,  at  a  convenient 
season,  deliver  it  in  English  to  his  people  (p.  50,  51).  Hence  it  appears,  that 
Dodd  is  mistaken  in  saying,  that,  when  the  convocation  condemned  Tyndal's 
version,  it  also  "gave  directions  fora  new  one."  The  whole  process,  together 
with  the  admonition,  may  be  seen  in  Wilkins,  Con.  iii.  727 — 737. — TV) 


ART.V.]  ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.  299 

and  state,  who,  though  they  durst  not  make  open  pro 
fession  of  it,  under  the  king's  eye,  yet  they  had  a  thou 
sand  ways  of  carrying  on  matters  in  private.  His 
majesty  having  set  aside  the  authority  of  the  see  of 
Rome,  in  the  controversy  of  the  divorce,  renounced  the 
pope's  supremacy  by  a  decree  of  parliament,  drawn  some 
blood  from  those  that  opposed  him,  insinuated  his  de 
sign  of  dissolving  the  monasteries,  and  made  suspicious 
compliments  to  the  Lutheran  princes  of  Germany ;  these 
proceedings  were  a  handsome  preliminary,  and  encou 
raged  the  favourers  of  the  reformation  to  form  a  kind 
of  body,  and  carry  on  their  design  in  a  methodical  and 
projecting  way. 

The  bishops  seemed  to  be  divided  upon  the  matter. 
Some  were  for  widening  the  breach  with  Rome,  and 
pushing  on  the  reformation  farther;  others  thought  they 
had  already  gone  far  enough,  in  abolishing  the  pope's 
supremacy.  Of  the  first  sort  were,  Thomas  Cranmer, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  ;  Thomas  Goodrick,  bishop 
of  Ely ;  Nicholas  Shaxton,  of  Sarum ;  Hugh  Latymer, 
of  Worcester ;  Edward  Fox,  of  Hereford  ;  John  HiU 
desly,  of  Rochester ;  and  William  Barlow,  of  St.  David's. 
Of  the  other  party  were,  Edward  Lee,  archbishop  of 
York  ;  John  Stokesley,  bishop  of  London  ;  Cuthbert 
Tunstal,  of  Durham;  Stephen  Gardiner,  of  Winchester; 
Robert  Sherburn,  of  Chichester ;  Richard  Nix,  of  Nor 
wich  ;  and  John  Kite,  of  Carlisle.  And  it  was  not  long 
before  there  was  an  occasion  of  trying  how  both  parties 
stood  affected.  For  novelties  spreading  every  JUN.  9, 
day  more  and  more,  a  convocation  met  in  order  1536- 
to  redress  the  evil ;  in  the  conclusion  whereof,  a  form 
of  doctrine  was  drawn  up,  not  differing  in  essentials 
from  the  ancient  faith,  yet,  in  some  points,  warping  too 
much  towards  the  reformation.1  This  form  was  signed, 

1  [This  document,  which  was  drawn  up  by  command  of  the  king,  is  printed  in 
Wilkins,  iii.  817—823  ;  in  Fuller,  book  v.  213—223;  inBurnet,  i.  Append.  283 
—293 ;  in  Lloyd's  Formularies  of  Faith,  1—20  ;  and  less  correctly,  in  Collier, 
ii.  122—126.  It  begins  by  asserting  that  a  belief  "  in  the  whole  body  and 
canon  of  the  Bible,"  and  in  all  the  articles  contained  in  the  Apostle's  Creed, 
the  Nicene  Creed,  and  the  Creed  of  St.  Athanasius,  is  necessary  to  salvation. 
It  then  proceeds  to  explain  the  nature,  end,  and  necessity  of  the  three  sacra- 


300  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

in  the  first  place,  by  archbishop  Cranmer,  who  as  yet 
kept  the  secret  of  a  farther  reformation  fast  locked  up 
in  his  breast.  In  the  list  of  the  subscribers,  to  be  seen 
in  the  Cottonian  library,1  we  find  Thomas  Cromwell, 
eighteen  bishops,  forty  abbots  and  priors,  and  fifty  of 
the  lower  house  of  convocation.  This  assembly,  before 
they  broke  up,  stigmatized  fifty-nine  erroneous  opi 
nions  ;  some  whereof  were  irreconcileable  to  the  very 
substance  of  Christian  religion,  viz.  "  that  priests  had 
no  more  authority  to  administer  the  sacraments  than 
the  laity ;  that  all  church  ceremonies,  not  expressly 
warranted  in  Scripture,  were  to  be  laid  aside ;  that  it 
was  as  lawful  to  christen  a  child  in  a  tub  at  home,  or 
in  a  ditch  in  the  field,  as  in  a  church  font ;  that  it  was 
neither  necessary  nor  serviceable  to  have  churches  or 
chapels,  for  divine  service ;  that  our  lady,  the  blessed 
Virgin,  was  no  better  than  another  woman  ;  that  holi 
days  of  ecclesiastical  institution  were  not  to  be  regarded ; 
that  no  human  laws  or  constitutions  were  binding  to 
any  Christian,  excepting  those  of  the  new  Testament." 
These  anabaptistical  opinions  were  intermixed  with 
others  of  not  quite  so  evil  an  aspect,  yet  not  approved 

ments  of  Baptism,  Penance,  and  the  Eucharist;  it  teaches  that  justification  is 
obtained  "  by  contrition  and  faith,  joined  with  charity,"  and  that  "  good  works 
be  necessarily  required  to  the  attaining  of  everlasting  life ;"  it  asserts  that  the 
use  of  images,  the  honour  and  invocation  of  the  saints,  and  the  various  cere 
monies  used  in  the  church  service,  are  good  and  profitable  ;  and  it  concludes  by 
declaring,  on  the  subject  of  the  souls  detained  in  purgatory,  that,  though  "the 
place  where  they  be,  the  name  thereof,  and  kind  of  pains  there  also,  be  to  us 
uncertain  by  Scripture,"  yet,  "  it  standeth  with  the  very  due  order  of  charity, 

a  Christian  man  to  pray  for  souls  departed and  also  to  cause  other  to 

pray  for  them  in  masses  and  exequies,  and  to  give  alms  to  other  to  pray  for 
them,  whereby  they  may  be  relieved,  and  holpen  of  some  part  of  their  pain." 
These  "  articles"  were  ordered  to  be  read  publicly  in  all  churches,  without  com 
ment  (Wilkins  iii.  825),  and,  shortly  after,  were  followed  by  a  body  of  injunc 
tions,  transferring  all  feasts  of  the  dedication  of  churches  to  the  first  Sunday  of 
October,  and  forbidding  the  observance  of  any  of  the  church  holidays,  which  fell 
either  during  the  period  of  harvest,  from  the  first  of  July  to  the  twenty-ninth  of 
September,  or  during  the  sitting  of  the  law-courts  at  Westminster.  Wilkins 
iii.  823  ;  Foxe,  ii.  323.— TV) 

1  Cleopatra,  E.  v.  59.  [A  facsimile  of  the  signatures  is  here  given  :  an  ex 
planation  of  them  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XLV.  Perhaps  the 
reader,  on  comparing  the  signatures  of  the  abbots  with  those  of  the  other  mem 
bers  of  the  convocation,  will  smile  at  the  sneer,  with  which  Burnet  tells  us,  that 
those  dignitaries  '"  writ  generally  so  ill,  he  could  by  no  means  know  what  to 
make  of  some  of  them."  i.  Addend.  293.— TV] 


ART.  v.]  ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.  30 1 

of  by  the  convocation  at  that  time,  viz.  that  there  was 
no  purgatory ;  that  "  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  was 
nothing  else  but  a  piece  of  bread  ;  and  that  it  was  to  no 
more  purpose  to  pray  to  the  saints,  than  to  throw  a  stone 
against  the  wind."  These  opinions  (which  were  re 
spectively  taught  by  one  set  or  other,  who  claimed  the 
title  of  reformers)  being  promiscuously  condemned  by 
the  convocation,  it  proved  a  sensible  mortification  to 
one  or  two  of  the  bishops,  who  were  suspected  to  favour 
some  of  them.  Mr.  Fuller  thinks  it  not  amiss  upon 
this  occasion  to  inform  us,  that  the  fifty-nine  propo 
sitions,  condemned  by  the  bishops  and  divines  at  this 
meeting,  were  the  protestant  religion  in  ore.  It  seems, 
the  reformers  had  not  as  yet  received  all  their  lights, 
nor  arrived  at  a  sufficient  maturity  of  judgment,  to 
separate  the  metal  from  the  dross. 2 

Another  glimpse  of  the  reformation  appeared  upon 
the  publishing  of  a  book,  called  The  Institution  of  a 
Christian  Man.  It  was  said  to  have  been  penned  by 
Dr.  Poynet ;  and  though,  in  most  points,  it  was  con 
formable  to  the  old  religion,  yet,  in  some  things,  it 
seemed  to  favour  the  reformation.  However,  it  obtained 
so  far,  as  to  be  approved  of  by  the  convocation,  and 
recommended  by  the  king,  as  a  standard  for  the  desk 
and  pulpit.  It  contained,  in  particular,  that  all  national 
churches  were  equal  in  power ;  that  there  were  seven 
sacraments,  yet  with  some  preference  to  Baptism,  the 
Eucharist,  and  Penance.  It  owns  a  corporal  presence 

1  [In  reference  to  this  passage,  Dodd  was  once  charged  with  saying,  that  the 
denial  of  purgatory  and  of  the  real  presence  was  "  not  of  quite  so  evil  an  aspect," 
as  the  assertions,  that  "  ceremonies  were  superstitious,  and  that  holidays  ought 
to  be  abolished."     Perhaps,  in  critical  strictness,  his  words  are  susceptible  of 
this  meaning.     It  is  right,  however,  to  observe,  that  he  indignantly  repelled  the 
accusation,  and  that  he,  at  once,  distinctly  and  emphatically  declared,  that  the 
comparison,  instituted  by  him,  was  limited  in  his  mind  to  "  those  propositions 
that  tended  to  the  total  subversion  of  Christianity,  viz.,  the  abolishing  of  baptism, 
priesthood,  and  obligation  of  obeying  human  laws."  As  he  truly  remarks,  "  pro 
positions,  that  attack  only  some  particular  tenets  of  faith,  have  a  better  aspect 
than  those  that  destroy  the  fundamentals  of  Christian  religion."    Apology  for  the 
Ch.  Hist,  of  Eng.  81,  82.— 71.] 

2  Collier,  ii.  120 — 128  ;  Fuller,  208.  [The  latter  adds  some  other  propositions, 
making  in  all  sixty-seven  (209 — 212).     In  substance,  however,  they  are  all 
contained  in  the  fifty-nine.     It  was  in  opposition  to  them,  that  the  instrument 
described  in  note  '  of  page  299  was  drawn  up. —  T.~\ 


302  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  r. 

of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  but  sinks  the  word  Tran- 
substantiation ;   the   ten  commandments   are   divided 
into  four  and  six,  and  not  into  three  and  seven,  as  they 
were  formerly  reckoned.     There  are  some  restrictions 
in  the  practice  of  praying  to  saints ;  as,  namely,  the 
Ave  Maria,  which  is  allowed,  is  declared   not  to  be 
properly  a  prayer  ;  but  prayer  for  the  dead  is  positively 
asserted  and  prescribed.1     From  a  view  of  such  forms 
of  doctrine,  it  was  plain  the  interest  of  the  old  religion 
was  every  day  declining ;  and,  though  such  as  were 
friends  to  the  reformation  durst  not  be  very  explicit, 
yet,  by  softening  terms,  and  suspicious  omissions,  they 
drove  on  the  cause  in  the  dark,  all  the  while  covering 
themselves  under  a  serviceable  hypocrisy.     Meantime, 
Cranmer  and  Cromwell,  through  whose  hands  all  public 
matters  passed,  took  care,  time  after  time,  to  publish 
such   orders   and   injunctions   as   countenanced   their 
cause ;    particularly,    an   order   came   forth,    that   all 
preachers  should  forbear  mentioning  the  controversies 
of  the  times,  both  on  one  side  and  the  other.     This  was 
represented  as  an  instance  of  prudence  in  the  ministry, 
to  put  exasperated  minds  under  a  restraint,  and  that 
the  king's  subjects  might  not  be  set  at  variance  ;  namely, 
they  were  to  say  nothing  of  purgatory,  praying  to  saints, 
priests'  marriage,  faith,  justification,  pilgrimages,  mi 
racles,  &c.2     Now,  that  this  was  a  project  in  favour  of 
the  reformation,  is  pretty  plain,,  it  not  being  customary 
to  silence  the  professors  of  an  established  religion,  out 
of  compliment  to  novelties.     Afterwards,  Cranmer 
and  Cromwell  set  forth  other  injunctions,  of  the 
same   tendency,  viz.    certain   ceremonies  were  to  be 
restrained,  and  observed  with  more  decency;  candles 
were  not  to  be  constantly  lighted  upon  the  altar,  only 
during  the  time  of  consecration,   distribution  of  the 

1  Collier,  ii,  139— 143. 

2  [He  alludes  either  to  the  order,  mentioned  in  a  preceding  note  (page  300), 
that  the  articles  should  be  read  in  the  churches,  without  comment,  or  to  a  parti 
cular  injunction,  issued  in  1537,  by  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  wherein,  addressing 
his  clergy,  and  ordering  them  to  preach  at  least  four  sermons  every  year,  the 
prelate  adds : — "  ita  tamen,  quod  vos  non  intromiseritis  in  vestris  concionibus  de 
aliquibus materiis  dubiis,  qua3  corda  audientium  potius  disturbant  quam  juvant. 
et  citius  virtutes  confundunt  quam  excitant." — Wilkins,  iii.  829. — T.~\ 


ART.  v.]  ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.  303 

sacrament,  and  some  other  certain  times;  Or  a  pro  nobis 
was  to  be  omitted  at  public  processions,  though  allowed 
in  private.  These  were  threatening  ordinances,  which 
cherished  the  reformation,  and  made  the  party  very 
confident  they  had  powerful  friends  at  court.1 

Besides  what  was  acting,  at  home,  in  favour  of  the 
reformation,  those  of  the  ministry,  that  were  of  that 
party,  were  very  industrious  in  providing  themselves 
with  assistance  from  abroad.  Lord  William  Howard 
and  the  bishop  of  St.  Asaph  were  sent  into  Scot 
land  ;  their  instructions  were,  to  engage  the  young 
king,  nephew  to  king  Henry,  to  quarrel  with  the  see  of 
Rome ;  to  which  purpose,  they  made  use  of  all  those 
popular  arguments,  which  had  induced  their  master  to 
cast  off  that  pretended  yoke  :  but  they  proved  to  have 
no  effect ;  the  nephew  had  not  so  good  an  opinion  of 
his  uncle's  management.2  Their  next  attempt  was  upon 
the  protestant  princes  of  Germany,  assembled  at  Smal- 
cald.  Hither  they  sent  the  bishop  of  Hereford,  and 
some  others,  in  order  to  propose  a  league,  and  mention 
a  coalition  between  the  Lutheran  church  and  the  church 
of  England,  as  it  then  stood.  But  both  parties  were  so 
in  love  with  their  own  systems,  that  nothing  could  be 
effected.  The  main  obstacle  was,  the  agents  in  Ger 
many  were  to  do  nothing  without  consulting  bishop 
Gardiner,  who  at  that  time  was  ambassador  at  the 
French  court.  Now,  this  prelate  mentioned  two  diffi 
culties,  which,  indeed,  as  things  then  stood,  were  invin 
cible  ;  one  was,  the  impracticableness  of  uniting  a 
German  church  to  an  English  head ;  the  other  was,  the 
German  princes  had  agreed  with  the  emperor  to  the 

1  Foxe,  ii.  325,  326. 

2  Herbert,  423,  424 ;  Strype,  i.  225,  and  Rec.  No.  LXIII.     [This  embassy 
had  been  preceded  by  another,  in  which  the  bishop  of  St.  Asaph  (Barlowe)  was 
accompanied  by  Thomas  Holcroft,  afterwards  knight  and  knight-marshal  (ibid). 
Sir  Ralph  Sadler  was  subsequently  employed  in  a  similar  attempt. — Sadler's 
State  Papers,  i.  50—56. 

Of  Henry's  efforts  to  withdraw  the  French  king  also  from  his  connexion  with 
the  Roman  see,  the  reader  has  already  seen  one  instance,  in  the  instructions 
given  to  Gardiner,  in  October,  1535  (Appendix,  No.  XXXVI.).  From  num 
berless  other  similar  papers  and  despatches,  I  shall  select  a  few,  which  will  fur 
nish  a  farther  illustration  of  his  anxiety  on  this  subject.  They  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix,  No.  XLVI.— TV] 


304  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  r. 

calling  of  a  general  council.  Now,  it  was  apprehended 
that  a  general  council  would  show  no  friendship  to 
king  Henry,  either  in  the  cause  of  the  divorce,  or  his 
supremacy ;  for  these,,  and  some  other  reasons,  Gar 
diner  persuaded  his  majesty  to  stand  oiF.1  However, 
not  long  after,  the  protestant  princes  of  Smalcald 
alliance,  being  willing  to  countenance  the  proceed 
ings  in  England  against  the  see  of  Rome,  sent  over  two 
ambassadors,  Francis  Burchard  and  George  Boyneburg, 
and  several  Lutheran  divines,  who  were  to  propose  and 
press  farther  for  a  reformation  ;  and,  accordingly,  they 
drew  up  several  arguments  against  communion  under 
one  kind,  private  masses,  and  the  single  life  of  the 
clergy.  Bishop  Gardiner  was  ordered  by  his  majesty 
to  make  a  distinct  reply  to  every  point,  which  he  per 
formed  answerably  to  the  great  character  he  had 
obtained  among  the  learned.2 

Meantime,  Cromwell  had  another  project  in  his  head, 
which  he  imagined  would  mainly  contribute  towards 
promoting  the  interest  of  the  reforming  party,  which 
was,  by  procuring  a  match  between  Ann,  daughter  of 
John,  duke  of  Cleves,  a  Lutheran  princess,  and  king 
Henry.  As  soon  as  this  match  was  proposed,  Hans 


1  [This  account  of  the  negotiation  with  the  German  princes  is  hardly  correct. 
When  Fox,  Heath,  and  Barnes,  the  three  envoys  from  Henry,  arrived  in  Ger 
many,  the  confederates  presented  them  with  a  paper  containing-  thirteen  articles 
for  the  king's  signature.     These  articles,  which  engaged  Henry  to  adopt  the 
Augustan  confession  of  faith,  to  assent  to  "  a  free,  just,  and  Christian  council," 
and  to  assist  the  confederates  with  a  contribution,  first,  of  one  hundred  thousand 
crowns,  and  afterwards,  if  necessary,  with  a  farther  advance  of  double  that  sum, 
were  forwarded  to  the  king,  and,  hy  his  order,  transmitted  to  Gardiner,  in  France, 
for  the  opinion  of  that  prelate.      Gardiner,  in  an  ingenious  reply,  strongly  op 
posed  the  adoption  of  the  articles.     But  Gardiner  was  at  a  distance,  and  Henry 
was  anxious  to  obtain  the  approbation  of  the  Germans  for  his  divorce.     He, 
therefore,  wrote  a  flattering  letter  to  the  princes :  he  thanked  them  for  their 
good  will,  offered  to  aid  them  with  one  hundred  thousand  crowns,  if  the  league 
were  perfected,  but  requested,  in  the  matter  of  religion,  that  a  body  of  German 
divines  might  be  commissioned  to  visit  England,  and  confer  with  the  native 
theologians  on  the  subject.     In  pursuance  of  this  request,  Melancthon,  Bucer, 
and  Draco,  were  named,  to  form  the  deputation.     But  the  execution  of  Anne 
Boleyn  awakened  the  suspicions  of  the  reformers  ;  and  the  project  was  silently 
abandoned,  until  renewed,  as  mentioned  in  the  text,  at  a  later  period. — Strype, 
i.  225—230,  Rec.  157—163;  Burnet,  i.  243,  iii.  Rec.  103— 110.—  TV) 

2  See  Burnet,  i.  Addend.  304—318;  Strype,  i.  Rec.  258—274;  Collier,  ii. 
143—149. 


ART.  v.         ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.          305 

Holbein,  the  famous  painter,  was  employed  to  draw  her 
picture,  which  he  performed  with  exquisite  skill,  and 
it  was  sent  over,  a  present  to  his  majesty.  She  had  a 
beautiful  face,  but,  as  to  her  size,  was  surprisingly 
large ;  was  very  unpolished  in  her  behaviour ;  could 
neither  sing,  dance,  touch  any  musical  instrument  (qua 
lifications  very  much  admired  by  the  king),  nor  speak  any 
language,  excepting  high  Dutch.  Upon  conclusion  of 
the  treaty,  she  came  over,  was  met  by  the  king  at 
Rochester,  and,  on  the  following  day,  conducted  to 
Greenwich,  where,  after  several  consultations  between 
Henry  and  his  ministers,  with  a  view  to  set  aside  the 
match,  the  ceremony  of  marriage  was  reluctantly  per 
formed,  Jan.  6,  1540.1  From  the  first  sight  the  king 
had  no  liking  to  her,  swearing  to  some  of  his  familiars, 
that  they  had  sent  him  over  a  Flanders  mare,  instead 
of  a  woman.  Neither  was  the  match  universally  ap 
proved  of  by  the  Lutheran  princes  ;  for  "  the  duke  of 
Saxony  discouraged  it,  because  the  king  was  making 
backward  steps  in  the  matter  of  the  reformation."1 
By  degrees,  the  king's  distaste  grew  into  an  aversion, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  he  took  a  resolution  to  part 
with  her  ;  and,  being  an  adept  in  finding  out  reasons 
for  the  breach  of  matrimonial  ties,  he  set  his  head  to 
work.  The  first  pretence  was,  that  she  had  been  pre 
contracted  to  the  prince  of  Lorraine.  "  But  nothing 
could  be  founded  on  that  pre-contract,  which  was  only 
an  agreement  between  the  fathers,  when  their  children 
were  under  age,  and  which  was  afterwards  broken  and 
annulled  by  their  parents ;  so  Cranmer  and  Tun stal, being 
required  to  give  their  opinions  as  divines,  declared  there 
was  nothing  in  it  to  hinder  the  king's  marrying  with  the 
lady." 3  Afterwards,  when  it  was  debated  in  the  convo 
cation,  "  the  substance  of  the  whole  evidence  amounted 
to  these  particulars ;  that  the  matter  of  the  pre-contract 
between  the  queen  and  the  prince  of  Lorraine  was  not 

1  Burnet,  i.  Rec.  181—185;  Strype,  i.  Rec.  307— 315.     [The  expenses  of 
Anne's  conveyance  from  Calais  to  Greenwich  were  defrayed  out  of  the  plunder 
of  the  monasteries,  and  amounted  to  £3,078.  7s.  7d. —Sir  John  Williams's  Ac 
count-Roll,  78— 83.— 71.]  2  Echard,i.  701.  3  Ibid. 
VOL.  I.  X 


306  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

fully  cleared ;  that  the  king  had  married  her  against  his 
will,  without  an  inward  consent ;  and  that  he  had  never 
consummated  the  marriage,  so  that  they  saw  he  could 
have  no  issue  by  the  queen.  Upon  these  grounds,  the 
whole  convocation,  with  one  consent,  annulled  the  mar 
riage,  and  declared  both  parties  free ;  which  was  the 
grossest  compliance  that  the  king  had  from  his  clergy  in 
his  whole  reign." l  For  "  the  reasons  on  which  their  sen 
tence  is  founded  are  not  very  cogent." 2  Yet,  according 
to  the  sentence  given,  they  were  divorced,  July  9,  the 
same  year  they  were  married,  and  it  was  confirmed  in 
parliament,  July  13.  She  had  3,000/.  a  year  allowed 
her,  and  was  styled  the  king's  adopted  sister.3 
JULY  12,  A  stratagem  of  the  like  nature  was  made  use 
1543.  o£  when  the  king  married  Catherine  Parr,  to 
which  he  was  advised  by  the  party  that  favoured  the 
reformation,  "  which  she  was  known  to  love,  and  to  have 
sermons  in  her  privy  chamber."4  But  when  these  her 
inclinations  became  known  to  bishop  Gardiner,  and  the 
lord  chancellor  Wriothesley,  two  zealous  opposers  of  the 
reformation,  they  drew  up  certain  articles  against  her ; 
and  the  king  "  signed  the  articles  upon  which  she  was 
to  be  impeached."5  As  soon  as  she  was  informed  what 
was  acting  against  her,  she  either  fell  sick,  or  pre 
tended  to  be  so,  to  prevent  being  sent  to  the  Tower. 
The  king,  in  the  meantime,  making  her  a  visit,  expos 
tulates  with  her  concerning  the  articles  she  was  charged 
with ;  but  she,  with  a  jocose  air,  gives  an  unexpected 
turn  to  the  whole  affair,  and  seemingly  could  riot  be 
made  to  understand  that  any  one  could  be  serious,  when 
they  alleged  such  matters  against  her,  which  everybody 
knows,  says  she,  are  far  above  a  woman's  weak  capa 
city.  "  No,"  replies  the  king, "  by  St.  Mary,  you  are  a 
doctor,  Kate."  After  some  discourse  between  them,  she 
did  not  disown,  but  that,  perhaps,  by  way  of  amusement, 
she  might  have  been  less  cautious  in  speaking  about  re 
ligion,  but  it  was  entirely  without  design.  Whether 

1  Echard,  i.  703.  2  Collier,  ii.  178. 

3  Burnet,  i.  269,  Rec.  186 — 188;  Stat.  32  Henry  VIII.  c.  25. 

«  Echard,  i.  713.  5  Ibid. 


ART.  v.]  ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.  307 

the  king  took  this  for  a  sufficient  apology,  or,  enjoying 
now  an  ill  state  of  health,  would  not  undergo  the  trouble 
and  vexation  of  a  prosecution,  the  order  for  her  confine 
ment  was  superseded ;  and  some  pretend  her  enemies 
were  checked  for  being  too  forward.  But  it  is  probable, 
had  his  majesty  been  disposed  to  have  made  a  strict  in 
quiry  into  her  behaviour,  she  might  have  tasted  of  the 
variety  of  his  temper,  as  some  of  his  other  wives  had 
done  before  her.1 

It  plainly  appeared  from  this,  and  such  like  instances, 
that  the  old  religion  was  in  danger,  and  that  several 
active  persons  of  the  reforming  party  omitted  no  oppor 
tunity  of  enlarging  their  interest ;  especially,  archbishop 
Cranmer  was  so  enterprizing,  as  to  have  the  assurance 
to  tempt  the  king  privately  upon  the  subject  of  religion: 
he  craftily  insinuates  to  him,  that  several  things  were 
then  practised  in  the  church  of  England,  not  authorized 
by  the  holy  Scripture  ;  and,  among  others,  mentioned  the 
vow  of  celibacy  in  the  clergy,  which  he  desired  might  be 
considered,  and  his  majesty  wouldfind  there  was  occasion 
for  a  reformation.2  Now,  there  were  both  private  and 
public  motives,  which  induced  Cranmer  to  make  this  a 
leading  inquiry :  he  had  himself  taken  a  wife,  contrary 
to  the  canons  of  the  church ;  it  cost  him  a  great  deal 
of  pains  to  conceal  her,  so  he  was  willing  to  be  made 
rectus  in  curia  upon  that  head.  Again,  great  numbers 
of  religious,  who  had  been  expelled  the  monasteries, 
having  an  opportunity  of  conversing  with  those  of  the 
other  sex,  gave  frequent  scandal,  by  the  breach  of  their 
vows ;  and  their  unfortunate  circumstances  seemed  to 
plead  very  much  to  have  the  law  of  celibacy  abolished. 
When  Gardiner,  Tunstal,  and  other  bishops,  zealous  for 
the  discipline  of  the  old  religion,  found  what  was  carry 
ing  on,  they  put  the  king  upon  such  methods,  as  dashed 
all  the  present  hopes  of  the  other  party  ;  for,  not 
long  after,  a  bill  of  six  articles  was  brought  into 
parliament,  which  passed  both  houses,  and  it  was  de- 


Herb.  624,  625.  *  Burnet  i.  Addend,  to  Rec.  Nos.  iv.  and  vi. 

X  2 


308  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

clared  a  capital  crime  in  any  one  that  refused  to  sub 
scribe  to  them  : — the  articles  were,  trail  substantiation, 
communion  under  one  kind,  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  mo 
nastic  vows,  private  masses,  and  auricular  confession.1 
This  statute  struck  a  terror  into  the  reformers  ;  and  the 
grand  sticklers,  Cranmer,  &c.  were  at  their  wits'  end. 
how  to  manage  upon  the  juncture  ;  but  the  comfortable 
doctrine  of  occasional  conformity  stood  them  in  stead, 
and  was  a  never  failing  cordial.  However,  two  of  the 
bishops,  Hugh  Latimer,  of  Worcester,  and  Nicholas 
Shaxton,  of  Sarum,  chose  rather  to  resign  than  comply, 
though  Shaxton  quickly  recanted,  and  subscribed  to  the 
articles.2  By  this  barrier  of  the  six  articles,  the  re 
formers  were  kept  under  some  restraint,  as  to  any  attacks 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  church ;  yet  still  they  went 
on  in  ridiculing  several  practices  publicly,  even  in  plays 
and  farces,  which  were  acted  in  the  churches.  "  The 
subject  of  the  entertainment,,  which  was  made  by  some 
of  the  gospellers,  was  the  immoralities  and  disorders  of 
the  monks  and  clergy.  They  took  the  liberty  likewise 
to  ridicule  their  religious  worship.  The  mob  were 
pleased  with  these  theatrical  shows,  in  hopes,  it  may  be, 
of  being  set  free  from  discipline  and  restraint.  The 
clergy  complained,  as  they  had  reason,  against  such  li 
centious  sport ;  this,  they  said,  was  the  way  to  let  in 
atheism,  and  make  all  religion  a  jest ;  for,  if  people  were 
allowed  to  burlesque  devotion,  and  make  themselves 
merry  with  the  ceremonies  of  the  church,  they  would 
proceed  to  farther  extremities,  and  laugh  the  nation  out 
of  their  creed  at  last."3  This  liberty  of  the  reformers  is 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  XLVII. 

2  [It  appears  to  be  uncertain  whether  these  bishops  resigned,  or  whether  they 
were  deprived.     Godwin,  in  the  life  of  Latimer,  says  the  former ;  in  the  life  of 
Shaxton,  the  latter  (De  Prsesul.  353,  469).     Marillac,  the  French  ambassador, 
who  was  in  England  at  the  time,  asserts  that  they  were  deposed,  "  pour  n'avoir 
voulu  souscrire  a  edits  "  (Le  Grand,  ii.  199) ;  but  Latimer  himself,  in  a  paper 
written  in  1546,  declares,  that,  though  he  resigned  at  the  instance  of  Cromwell, 
and,  as  he  supposed,  in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  the  king,  the  latter  after 
wards  denied  that  he  had  given  any  orders  on  the  subject  (State  Papers,  i.  849, 
cited  by  Lingard,  vi.  294.  Ed.  1838).     Shaxton's  recantation  is  printed  in 
Collier,  ii.  212.— 71.] 

3  Collier,  ii.  187. 


ART.  v.]  ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.  309 

mentioned  and  condemned  by  bishop  Bonner,  in  his  in 
junctions  delivered  to  his  clergy,  in  1542.1 

Archbishop  Cranmer,  who  was  the  grand  encourager 
of  all  these  proceedings,  began  to  be  watched  more  nar 
rowly  ;  so  that  sir  John  Gostwick,  a  member  of  parlia 
ment  for  Bedfordshire,  ventured  to  accuse  him  before  the 
house,  as  an  abettor  of  novel  opinions,  and  that  his 
palace  was  a  nursery  for  heresy  and  sedition ;  but  no 
impeachment  was  drawn  up  against  him.  The  king, 
who  was  no  stranger  to  Cranmer's  inclinations,  took  an 
occasion  to  ask  him,  in  a  merry  strain,  if  his  grace's  bed 
chamber  could  stand  the  scrutiny  of  the  six  articles  ? 
Cranmer  replied  very  frankly,  and  owned  he  was  actu 
ally  married,  but,  not  to  give  offence,  he  had  sent  his 
wife  into  her  own  country.  The  king,  who  had  a  per 
sonal  kindness  for  him,  told  him,  as  to  that  particular, 
he  would  stand  between  him  and  danger,  therefore  bid 
him  be  easy.  But  this  did  not  satisfy  the  privy-council, 
who  had  many  other  matters  to  allege  against  him ;  he 
was  summoned  before  them,  and  they  were  fully  re 
solved  to  send  him  to  the  Tower,  and  that  he  should  un 
dergo  his  trial.  Accordingly  he  appeared ;  but  producing 
a  ring  which  the  king  had  given  him,  and  some  other 
circumstances,  stopped  all  farther  proceedings.  The 
next  time  the  king  met  his  privy-council,  he  expostu 
lated  with  them  on  the  archbishop's  account,  and,  strik 
ing  his  breast,  swore  he  had  more  obligations  to  him 
than  to  all  mankind  besides.2  Cranmer  failed  not  to 
improve  this  advantage,  and  managed  the  king  with  so 
much  art,  that  hereafter  the  six  article  act  was  urged 
with  more  moderation  ;  insomuch,  that,  in  a  session  of 
parliament  held  not  long  after,  a  clause  was  inserted  in 
the  act,  empowering  the  king  to  alter  it,  or  any  proviso 
in  it.3  This  was  visibly  a  stratagem  of  the  reformers, 

1  [The  Injunctions  are  printed  in  Wilkins,  iii.  864 — 867,  and  in  Bui-net,  i- 
Rec.  235 — 239.     In  the  former  edition  of  this  work,  Dodd  erroneously  de 
scribed  them  as  the  injunctions  of  the  con  vocation,  and  supported  the  description 
by  a  mistaken  reference,  copied  from  the  margin  of  Collier,  ii.  187. — T.~\ 

2  Collier  ii.  199—201;  Strype's  Cranmer,  109—126. 

3  [Dodd  must  here  allude  to  the  statute,  giving  to  any  proclamation,  which 
should  be  issued  by  the  king,  the  force  of  an  act  of  parliament  (Stat.  31  Hen. 


310  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

upon  a  view,  that,  some  time  or  other,  his  majesty  might 
be  disposed  to  repeal  it  entirely.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  friends  of  the  old  religion  laboured  hard  to  oppose 
the  reformation.  A  league  was  struck  up  with  the  em 
peror.  The  king  agreed  to  have  the  princess  Mary 
placed  in  the  succession ;  and  Gardiner  assures  us,  that 
he  himself  was  employed  to  make  some  proposals  to 
wards  a  reconciliation  with  Rome.1 


VIII.  c.  8).  This,  however,  was  passed  before  that  of  the  Six  Articles :  the 
acts,  by  which  the  severity  of  the  latter  was  mitigated,  were  those  of  the  32nd 
of  Hen.  VIII.  c.  10.  and  the  35th  Hen.  VIII.  c.  5.  By  the  first,  the  punish 
ment  of  a  priest,  contracting  marriage,  was  commuted  from  death  to  forfeiture, 
or  to  forfeiture  and  perpetual  imprisonment  for  the  third  offence  :  by  the  second, 
no  information  under  the  act  could  be  received,  unless  verified  by  the  oaths  of 
twelve  men;  no  prosecution  could  be  sustained,  unless  commenced,  if  for  a 
violation  of  the  statute,  within  a  year,  if  for  words  spoken  against  the  statute, 
within  forty  days,  after  the  commission  of  the  offence. — 7VJ 

1  Apud  Foxe,  iii.  92.  [I  will  here  supply  a  brief  notice  of  some  particulars 
which  have  been  omitted  by  Dodd.  The  reader  will  recollect  the  condemnation 
of  Tyndal's  version  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  promise  of  Henry  to  provide 
the  people  with  a  faithful  translation  of  the  whole  Scripture.  This  was  in  1530  : 
four  years  later,  the  pledge  was  still  unredeemed ;  and,  in  December,  1534,  the 
convocation  addressed  the  king,  reminding  him  of  his  promise,  and  requesting 
that  it  might  now  be  fulfilled."  Henry  replied  to  the  petition,  by  authorizing 
two  printers,  Grafton  and  Whitchurch,  to  publish  an  edition  of  the  Bible  in 
English  ;  and,  in  1537,  a  translation,  professedly  written  by  Thomas  Matthewe, 
a  fictitious  name,  but  really  compiled  from  the  two  versions  of  Tyndal  and 
Coverdale  (the  latter  printed  abroad  in  1535),  made  its  appearance.  To  Cran- 
mer,  the  publication  of  this  volume  was  a  matter  of  extraordinary  interest.  He 
instantly  forwarded  a  copy  to  Cromwell :  by  the  latter  the  book  was  laid  before 
Henry;  and  a  royal  injunction  speedily  followed,  ordering  a  Bible  of  this  edition 
to  be  placed  in  every  church,  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  parson  and  the  parish 
ioners  (Wilkins,  iii.  776  ;  Strype's  Cranmer,  24,  57;  Burnet,  i.  Rec.  168). 
What  was  thus  provided  for  the  churches,  was  shortly  after  permitted  as  an 
indulgence  to  every  private  family  (Burnet,  ibid.  175;  Wilkins,  846).  But  the 
inconveniences  of  this  new  system  soon  began  to  manifest  themselves.  The 
people,  everywhere  exhorted  to  read  and  study  the  sacred  volume,  at  once 
became  theologians  in  their  own  estimation.  The  most  ignorant,  of  course,  were 
the  most  loud  in  their  declamations.  The  street  and  the  tavern,  the  ale-house 
and  the  church,  alike  resounded  with  the  anger  of  the  polemic,  or  the  voice  of 
the  expounder.  The  intercourse  of  life  was  embittered ;  the  service  of  the 
church  was  interrupted ;  and  doctrines  the  most  absurd  and  contradictory  were 
disseminated  through  the  country,  on  the  alleged  authority  of  the  Word  of  God. 
To  arrest  these  disorders,  Henry  resolved  to  exercise  the  powers  conferred  upon 
him  by  his  spiritual  supremacy.  In  a  proclamation,  published  in  1539,  he 
complained  to  the  people  of  the  manner,  in  which  they  had  disappointed  his  ex 
pectations,  in  giving  them  access  to  the  Bible.  His  "  intent  and  hope  was, 

Ai__j.  A! i  j     i     xi   _    c*       •  -  j__  "XT-    _. i__~ ,.          J    11     A.  »-n.l  it-tit    -fK^ 


slander 

2k 

prince,  of  "his  excellent  goodnes  and  princely  power,"  to  take  measures  for  re 
medying  the  abuse.     He  then  proceeds  to  notice  and  condemn  the   several 


ART.  vi.]  ATTEMPTS  OF  REFORMERS.  311 


ARTICLE   VI. 


CHARACTER    OF    HENRY. — HIS    ACCOMPLISHMENTS    AND    TALENTS POLITICAL 

ABILITIES MORALS RELIGIOUS   PRINCIPLES — HIS    DEATH — LAST  SPEECH 

IN  PARLIAMENT — HIS  WILL — SUMMARY. 

It  is  generally  allowed,  that  king  Henry  VIII.  was  richly 
provided  with  all  those  ornaments  both  of  body  and 
mind,  which  became  that  exalted  station,  which  provi- 

excesses  which  he  sought  to  restrain.  He  prohibits  the  use  of  the  opprobrious 
epithets,  "  heretic"  and  "  papist ;"  he  forbids  any  one,  who  shall  not  have  gra 
duated  at  either  of  the  universities,  or  who  shall  not  have  obtained  the  special 
license  of  the  king,  or  of  his  vicegerent,  to  "  teach  or  preach  the  Bible  or  New 
Testament,  or  expound  the  mysteries  thereof ;"  he  commands  all  persons  to 
abstain  from  reading  the  Scriptures  aloud  in  the  churches,  during  the  time  of 
divine  service  ;  he  cautions  all  to  seek  the  interpretation  of  every  difficult  passage 
from  those,  whose  learning  shall  have  qualified  them  for  the  task ;  and  he  con 
cludes,  by  reminding  his  "loving  and  obedient  subjects,"  that,  if  he  has  indulged 
them  with  the  unrestrained  use  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  it  is  not  from  any  obli 
gation  imposed  on  him  by  God's  ordinance,  but  purely  from  the  effect  of  "  his 
own  liberality  and  goodnes."  (See  Appendix,  No.  XLVIIL)  But,  if  Henry 
expected,  by  such  means,  to  repress  the  disorders  of  which  he  complained,  he 
was  speedily  undeceived.  Instead  of  subsiding,  the  zeal  of  the  new  teachers 
seemed  hourly  to  gather  strength.  The  same  heterodox  opinions  continued  to 
be  propagated,  the  same  intemperance  of  word  and  action  universally  to  prevail ; 
till,  at  length,  in  January,  1543,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  interfere  by  act  of 
parliament,  and  effectually  restrain  a  liberty,  which  had  thus  been  so  grievously 
abused.  It  was  then  enacted,  that  "  all  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
in  English,  being  of  Tindale's  false  translation,  or  comprising  any  matter  of 
Christian  religion,  articles  of  the  faith,  or  Holy  Scripture,  contrary  to  the  doc 
trine  set  forth  sithence  A.D.  1540,  or  to  be  set  forth  by  the  king,  should  be 
abolished ;  that  no  printer  or  bookseller  should  utter  any  of  the  aforesaid  books ; 
that  no  persons  should  play  in  interlude,  sing,  or  rhyme,  contrary  to  the  said 
doctrine ;  that  no  person  should  retain  any  English  books  or  writings,  concern 
ing  matter  against  the  holy  and  blessed  sacrament  of  the  altar,  or  for  the  main- 
tainance  of  anabaptists,  or  other  books  abolished  by  the  king's  proclamation ; 
that  there  should  be  no  annotations,  or  preambles  in  Bibles  or  New  Testa 
ments  in  English ;  that  the  Bible  should  not  be  read  in  English  in  any  church ; 
that  no  women  or  artificers,  'prentices,  journeymen,  serving-men  of  the  degrees 
of  yeomen  or  under,  husbandmen  or  labourers,  should  read  the  New  Testament 
in  English ;  that  nothing  should  be  taught  contraiy  to  the  king's  instructions ; 
and  that,  if  any  spiritual  person  should  preach,  teach,  or  maintain  any  thing  con 
trary  to  the  king's  instructions,  or  determinations,  made,  or  to  be  made,  and 
should  be  thereof  convict,  he  should,  for  his  first  offence,  recant ;  for  his  second, 
abjure  and  bear  a  faggot;  and  for  his  third,  should  be  adjudged  a  heretic, and 
be  burned,  and  lose  all  his  goods  and  chattels."— Stat  34,  Hen.  VIII.  c.  1. 

But,  while  Henry  was  thus  careful  to  restrain  the  opinions  of  his  subjects,  he 
was  not  less  solicitous,  in  the  exercise  of  his  spiritual  headship,  to  propagate  and 


31 2  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  t, 

dence  had  designed  him  for.  As  to  his  body,  he  was 
much  above  the  common  size  of  men,  with  limbs  well 
proportioned,  and  a  majestic  mien.  He  had  not  only  a 
great  share  of  wit,  penetration,  and  judgment,,  but  might 
dispute  a  superiority  with  those  that  were  the  best  qua 
lified.  These  perfections,  having  the  advantage  of  a 

establish  his  own.  When  parliament  assembled,  in  April,  1540,  Cromwell  ad 
dressed  the  house  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  and,  having  described  the  animo 
sities  of  the  two  great  parties,  each  branding  the  other  with  the  epithet  of  "  he 
retic,"  or  "  papist,"and  each  appealing  to  the  scripture  for  the  confirmation  of  its 
own  peculiar  views,  concluded  by  informing  the  members,  that  a  commission  had 
been  issued  to  a  certain  number  of  prelates  arid  doctors ;  that,  of  these,  some 
were  to  draw  up  a  clear  and  faithful  exposition  of  doctrine,  others  were  to  re 
port  on  the  propriety  of  retaining  or  abolishing  a  certain  portion  of  the  church 
ceremonies;  and  that,  as  the  king  was  determined,  by  enforcing  the  laws,  to 
repress  the  rash  and  heterodox  opinions,  that  were  abroad,  so  he  confidently 
relied  on  the  cooperation  of  parliament,  to  support  him  in  the  godly  under 
taking.  The  two  committees  were  now  assembled.  From  the  "  Institution  of  a 
Christian  Man,"  the  various  heads  were  extracted:  these  were  disposed  in  the 
form  of  questions,  and,  being  reduced  to  writing,  were  delivered  to  the  several 
members  of  the  committee  of  doctrine,  for  their  opinions.  The  answers,  when 
returned,  were  collated  and  presented  to  the  king ;  and,  after  a  careful  revision, 
during  three  years,  were,  at  length,  embodied  and  published,  under  the  title  of 
"  A  Necessary  Doctrine  and  Erudition  for  any  Christened  Man."  In  point  of 
substance,  the  new  book,  though  more  full,  differed  little  from  its  predecessor. 
It  enforced  the  same  tenets,  enjoined  the  same  observances ;  but  it  asserted, 
what  the  "  Institution"  had  evaded,  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  ;  and  in 
formed  its  readers  that  communion  under  one  kind  was  sufficient.  Henry  in 
troduced  the  work  to  his  subjects  with  a  preface  from  his  own  pen;  a  circum 
stance,  from  which,  probably,  it  afterwards  obtained  the  name  of  "  The  King's 
Book."—  Wilkins,  iii.  861, 863,  868  ;  Strype,  Memorials,  i.  356, 357,  378—381, 
Cranmer,  Append.  48—54  ;  Burnet,  i.  273—280,  Rec.  189—227 ;  Collier,  ii. 
188—191,  Rec.  40— 56. 

Of  the  answers  and  decisions  of  the  committee,  appointed  to  revise  the  church 
ceremonies,  little  seems  to  have  been  publicly  known  at  the  time.  A  report, 
indeed,  distinguished  alike  by  its  simplicity  and  its  general  good  sense,  was 
drawn  up,  and  probably  laid  before  Henry.  But  here  the  matter  was  suffered 
to  rest :  the  paper,  though  evidently  completed,  was  never  published ;  and  the 
ancient  ceremonies,  which  it  approved  and  explained,  continued  still,  with  but 
few  exceptions,  to  retain  their  places  in  the  service  of  the  church.  One  point, 
however,  deserves  to  be  here  noticed,  inasmuch  as  it  contains  a  suggestion,  which 
has  since  been  adopted  in  the  catholic  rituals  of  this  country.  Having  described 
the  ceremonies  of  baptism,  up  to  the  moment  when  the  child  is  conducted  to  the 
font,  the  report  thus  proceeds :  "  Then  there  followeth  a  stipulation,  made  under 
prescript  words,  the  mynystre  demaundyng  certayne  questyons,  and  he  that  is 
baptysed,  or  his  suerties,  makyng  aunswer  to  any  questyon  or  demaunde, — 
which  demaunds,  questions,  and  answers  (to  the  intent  the  godfather,  godmother, 
with  other  there  present,  miy  know  what  ys  a  christen  man's  profession  att  hys 
baptisme)  we  think  yt  very  convenient  and  meet  to  be  utten/d  hereafter  in  the 
Engliske  tongS"1  This  suggestion  is  inserted  in  the  margin  of  the  report,  and  is 
in  the  handwriting,  not  of  Gardiner,  as  asserted  by  Strype  (Mem.  i.  Append. 
282),  but  of  Sampson,  bishop  of  Chichester.  The  paper  may  be  seen  among 
the  Cotton  MSS.  Cleopat.  E.  v.  259— 286.— T.] 


ART.  vi.]  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY.  313- 

suitable  education,  to  render  them  valuable  and  service 
able,  made  him  one  of  the  completest  princes  in  Europe. 
He  had  not  only  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  liberal 
sciences,  but  had  made  some  advances  in  scholastic 
learning,  and  was  so  particularly  taken  with  that  kind 
of  studies,  that,  as  it  is  reported,  had  prince  Arthur  suc 
ceeded  in  the  throne,  there  were  some  thoughts  of  his 
becoming  an  ecclesiastic.  A  prince  thus  qualified  could 
not  fail  of  making  a  considerable  figure  in  the  world; 
and,  indeed,  for  several  years,  he  answered  the  ends  of 
his  bright  parts,  and  the  other  qualifications  he  was 
master  of.  And,  what  still  contributed  towards  com 
pleting  his  character,  he  came  to  the  crown  with  all  the 
advantages  imaginable  ;  there  was  no  competitor  to  dis 
pute  his  title  ;  no  debts,  but  an  exchequer  well  furnished, 
to  answer  all  the  ends  of  government ;  no  factions 
among  the  people,  who  were  all  big  with  expectation  of 
flourishing  under  a  head  so  capable  of  advancing  the 
interest  and  reputation  of  the  English  nation.  Neither 
did  he  disappoint  them  in  their  expectations.  England 
had  an  old  claim  to  several  provinces  in  France,  which 
we  had  been  dispossessed  of,  at  first,  by  quarrels  among 
the  ministry,  nor  were  ever  since  capable  of  recovering 
our  right,  by  reason  of  the  continual  wars  between  the 
houses  of  Lancaster  and  York.  But  these  difficulties 
being  now  removed,  king  Henry  VIII.  put  up  his  claim, 
and  a  war  ensued  between  the  French  and  English  ;  the 
consequence  whereof  was  the  taking  of  two  strong 
cities,  Terouenne  and  Tournay,  with  all  their  depen 
dencies.  And  what  still  added  to  the  glory  of  the  En 
glish  arms,  the  Scots  came  in  to  the  assistance  of  their 
ancient  allies,  the  French,  and  (the  same  year  king 
Henry  took  the  aforesaid  cities)  marched  with  a  formid 
able  army  to  invade  England,  but  were  routed  by  the 
king's  generals,  at  the  famous  battle  of  Flodden  Field, 
where  the  king  of  Scotland,  and  a  great  number  of  his 
nobility,  lost  their  lives.  This  was  a  remarkable  speci 
men  of  king  Henry's  martial  genius,1  which  he  always 

1  [How  far  these  successes  may  be  considered  as  satisfactory  evidences  of 
Henry's  "martial  genius,"  may,  perhaps,  be  doubted.     For  his  victories  in 


314  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

gave  plain  proofs  of  during  his  whole  reign,  when  there 
was  occasion  to  make  a  trial.  And  we  find,  that,  to 
wards  the  latter  end  of  his  reign,  he  was  engaged  in  a 
war  with  the  same  parties,  and  still  came  off  conqueror. 
The  quarrel  began  with  Scotland,  upon  account  of  a 
treaty  of  marriage  between  prince  Edward,  and  the 
young  princess  of  Scotland,  which  at  first  was  agreed 
to  ;l  but  by  the  management  of  cardinal  Beaton,  arch 
bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  the  Scotch  nobility  refused  to 
give  her  up,  apprehending  that  such  an  alliance  would 
be  prejudicial  to  the  catholic  cause  ;  for  as  yet  the  Scots 
stood  firm  in  their  obedience  to  the  see  of  Rome.  This 
refusal  occasioned  a  war,  in  which  king  Henry  was  so 
successful,  as  to  penetrate  into  the  very  heart  of  Scot 
land  ;  yet  he  was  not  able  to  lay  hold  of  the  young 
princess.  All  this  while,  he  was  obliged  to  be  upon  his 
guard  against  the  French,  who,  according  to  custom, 
endeavoured  to  make  a  diversion  in  favour  of  Scotland  ; 
wherefore  an  armywras  raised,  and  sent  over  into  France; 
and  in  a  little  time  he  took  Boulogne,  with  a  large  tract 
of  land  belonging  to  it.  These  places  were,  indeed,  af 
terwards  surrendered,  but  it  was  upon  honourable  terms, 
and  in  such  a  manner,  as  discovered  king  Henry's  abi 
lities  in  the  cabinet,  as  well  as  in  the  field. 

The  story  of  this  king's  reign  affords  many  other  in 
stances  of  his  politic  capacity.  I  will  mention  some  of 
them.  When  the  controversy  about  the  divorce  was  set 
a-foot,  though  he  could  not  obtain  his  ends  in  the  man 
ner  he  proposed,  and  according  to  the  methods  usually 
observed  in  such  cases,  which  were  determined  by  the 
authority  of  the  see  of  Rome,  yet  he  displayed  his  parts 
so,  in  that  affair,  as  to  omit  nothing,  that  either  human 


France,  he  was,  in  a  great  measure,  indebted  to  the  advice  and  assistance  of  his 
ally,  the  emperor  Maximilian  :  for  the  defeat  of  the  Scots  he  was  entirely  be 
holden  to  the  prowess  of  the  earl  of  Surrey,  the  leader  of  the  English  army,  at 
Flodden.—  71] 

1  [The  war  had  commenced  in  the  preceding  year,  1542,  before  the  death  of 
James  V. :  the  proposed  marriage,  between  Edward  and  Mary,  now  queen, 
formed  part  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  as  the  violation  of  the  latter  by  Henry  formed  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  renewal  of  hostilities  (Lingard,  iv.  325 — 330).  James 
V.  declared  that  his  refusal  to  abandon  the  communion  of  the  Roman  see  was 
the  original  cause  of  the  war. — Apud  Pinkerton,  ii.  83. — 71.] 


ART.  vi.]  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY.  315 

art  or  industry  was  capable  of  effecting,  in  order  to 
bring  it  to  bear ;  so  that,  excepting  the  strong  fortress 
of  divine  law,  his  adversaries  were  beaten  from  all  other 
posts,  and  seemingly,  at  least,  came  over  to  him,  either 
by  force  or  stratagem.  But  here  it  was,  that  his  glori 
ous  character  came  first  to  be  blasted  ;  for  neither  the 
motives  of  this  attempt  were  so  pure,  nor  the  methods 
he  made  use  of  so  fair,  but  that  many  began  to  harbour 
an  evil  opinion  of  his  sincerity,  as  well  as  of  the  justice 
of  his  cause.  Afterwards,  when  he  found  it  was  neces 
sary  to  break  with  the  see  of  Rome,  in  order  to  obtain 
his  desire  as  to  the  divorce,  though  he  scandalized  all 
Europe  by  the  defection,  yet  he  showed  himself  to  be  a 
perfect  master  of  politic  stratagems,  by  walking  the 
pope  gradually  out  of  his  supremacy,  and  drawing  the 
whole  nation  imperceptibly  after  him.  His  proceedings, 
upon  this  occasion,  both  as  to  substance  and  manner, 
were  irreconcileable  to  the  character  of  a  just  and  reli 
gious  prince.  But  he  suffered  much  more  in  his  repu 
tation,  in  the  next  step  he  took,  which  was  the  seizure 
of  monastic  lands.  For  here,  vice  laid  aside  a  great  part 
of  her  disguise,  and  plainly  discovered  her  face,  upon 
many  occasions.  However,  it  cannot  be  denied,  but 
that  he  showed  the  vastness  of  his  capacity,  and,  by 
artificially  shuffling  the  cards,  played  a  bad  game  with 
great  success.  For  whatever  arguments  could  be  made 
use  of,  to  seduce  the  ignorant,  surprise  the  unwary,  tempt 
the  licentious,  or  compel  the  stubborn,  were  employed 
with  so  much  craft  and  address,  that  one  half  of  the 
monasteries  fell  unpitied,  while  the  rest  seemed  not  to 
be  wrested  out  of  the  monks'  hands,  but  voluntarily  sur 
rendered.  All  this  while,  men  of  thought  and  penetra 
tion  saw  plainly  through  this  thin  disguise  ;  for,  though 
a  reformation  of  abuses  was  the  pretence,  avarice  was 
the  real  inducement.  It  is  true,  a  great  many  national 
advantages  were  mentioned,  to  make  the  design  more 
acceptable  to  the  common  people ;  and  the  king's  late 
proceedings  against  the  see  of  Rome  might  seem  to  re 
quire  such  an  expedient :  but  how  necessary  soever  the 
seizure  of  abbey  lands  might  be,  to  support  the  king  in 


31.6  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI. 

his  supremacy,  against  any  attempts  at  home  from  the 
religious  orders,  it  is  certain  his  majesty  was  as  much 
out,  in  his  politics,  as  he  was  destitute  of  religion, 
in  proceeding  to  an  universal  dissolution,  as  it  quickly 
appeared  from  the  many  national  inconveniences,  which 
flowed  from  it. 

We  have  heard  what  king  Henry  YIII.  was,  as  to  his 
politic  and  martial  abilities  ;  the  next  consideration  are 
his  morals  and  religion.  Historians  commonly  take  a 
great  deal  of  liberty  in  exposing  the  defects  and  faults 
of  crowned  heads,  and  treat  them  in  such  a  manner,  as 
if  they  had  not  as  much  right  to  their  reputation,  as  the 
rest  of  mankind.  I  know  king  Henry  is  charged  with 
a  great  many  vices  in  private  life,  which  is  a  point  to  be 
touched  very  tenderly  ;  for  though  his  public  irregula 
rities  give  occasion  to  judge  the  worst  of  him,  yet  it  is 
not  the  part  of  a  Christian  to  improve  suspicions  into 
facts,  nor  is  it  always  allowable  to  report  real  facts,  to 
the  prejudice  of  any  person's  character.  Passing  over 
in  silence,  therefore,  the  errors  of  king  Henry's  private 
life,  I  will  only  take  notice  of  such  passages  as  were  no 
torious,  and  are  publicly  recorded  by  all  our  historians. 
And,  in  the  first  place,  it  would  be  a  difficult  task  to  an 
swer  for  his  sincerity,  or  to  give  so  much  as  a  tolerable 
reason  for  his  scrupulosity  about  his  marriage,  after  near 
twenty  years'  cohabitation  with  his  queen.  The  like  may 
be  said  of  his  applying  himself  so  earnestly,  and  so  fre 
quently,  to  the  see  of  Rome  for  a  divorce,  as  the  proper 
court  where  that  matter  was  to  be  decided,  and  yet, 
afterwards,  making  a  public  declaration,  that  he  never 
thought  himself  obliged  to  submit  to  any  decision,  that 
came  from  that  authority.  How  unjustly  did  he  treat 
his  faithful  minister,  cardinal  Wolsey  ! — first,  indem 
nifying  him,  with  his  hand  and  seal,  to  exercise  a  lega- 
tine  power;  and,  afterwards,  suffering  him  to  be  im 
peached  upon  that  account,  and  stripped  of  all  his 
substance,  and,  at  the  same  time,  seizing,  and  keeping 
from  him,  the  credentials,  under  the  king's  own  hand 
and  seal,  whereby  he  might  have  defended  himself. 
And  was  it  not  also  a  barbarous  usage  of  all  the  clergy, 


ART.  vi.]  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY.  3 1  7 

to  bring  them  in  guilty  of  a  premunire,  for  only  inciden 
tally  concurring  with  the  legatine  court,  which  he  him 
self  required  of  them  ?  Was  it  not  proved,  by  punishing 
several  of  the  misinformers,  that  he  was  resolved,  right 
or  wrong,  to  get  the  lesser  monasteries  into  his  hands  ? 
And  were  not  the  great  monasteries  afterwards  made  a 
prey  by  him,  notwithstanding  their  religious  and  edify 
ing  behaviour,  approved  of  in  parliament,  upon  the 
nicest  scrutiny  of  their  morals  ?  Who  can  excuse  him 
from  a  breach  of  his  royal  word,  in  the  disposal  he  made 
of  the  lands  and  goods  belonging  to  the  church  ?  Did 
he  not  assure  his  people,  that  they  should  not  be  secu 
larized,  but  transferred  to  other  pious  uses  ?  that  impro- 
priations  should  be  returned  to  the  parochial  clergy,  the 
original  proprietors ;  schools  erected,  colleges  improved 
by  additional  rents,  and  armies  maintained  without  loans 
and  subsidies  ?  Did  ever  any  prince  expose  himself 
more  to  censure  than  king  Henry  VIII.,  in  breaking 
through  the  ties  of  a  matrimonial  life,  taking  and  part 
ing  with  his  wives  without  any  regard  to  laws,  either 
human  or  divine,  and  abandoning  some  of  them  to  the 
fury  of  their  enemies,  till  they  lost  their  heads  ? 

This  is  the  account  we  have  of  his  morals.  Now,  as 
to  religion,  it  has  puzzled  all  posterity  to  know  how  he 
stood  affected.  If  he  followed  any  plan,  it  was  neither 
old  nor  new,  but  an  irreconcileable  system  of  notions 
and  practices,  as  his  passions  transported  him.  He 
that  prayed  for  the  dead,  but  destroyed  all  the  pious 
foundations  erected  for  that  purpose  ;  he  that  made  it 
a  capital  crime  to  oppose  monastic  vows,  but  dispersed 
all  the  religious  that  embraced  that  method  of  life  ;  he 
that  roasted  both  papists  and  protestants  at  the  same  fire, 
what  account  can  we  give  of  his  creed  ?  All  we  can 
say  is,  that,  being  declared  head  of  the  church,  and  hav 
ing  renounced  that  supremacy,  which  was  designed  to 
keep  princes  within  due  bounds  in  all  religious  matters, 
he  took  himself  to  be  sufficiently  empowered  and  qua 
lified  to  proceed  in  the  manner  he  did.  In  this  confused 
manner,  he  blundered  through  the  remaining  part  of  his 
reign.  And  "  having  long  lived  a  voluptuous  life,  and 


318  HENRY  VIII.  [PARTI 

indulgent  too  much  unto  his  palate,  was  grown  so  corpu 
lent,  or  rather  so  overgrown  with  an  unwieldy  burden  of 
flesh,  that  he  was  not  able  to  go  up  stairs,  from  one  room 
to  another,  but  as  he  was  hoised  up  by  an  engine ; 
which,  filling  his  body  with  foul  and  foggy  humours,  and 
those  humours  falling  into  his  leg,  in  which  he  had  an 
ancient  and  uncured  sore,  they  there  began  to  settle  to 
an  inflammation,  which  did  both  waste  his  spirits  and 
increase  his  passions.  In  the  midst  of  which  distempers, 
it  was  not  his  least  care  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  his 
son,  and  preserve  the  succession  of  the  crown  to  his  own 
posterity.  At  such  time  as  he  had  married  queen  Anne 
Boleyn,  he  procured  his  daughter,  Mary,  to  be  declared 
illegitimate  by  act  of  parliament ;  the  like  he  also  did 
by  his  daughter,  Elizabeth,  when  he  had  married  queen 
Jane  Seymour,  settling  the  crown  upon  his  issue  by  the 
said  queen  Jane  ;  but,  having  no  other  issue  by  her  but 
prince  Edward  only,  and  none  at  all  by  any  of  his  fol 
lowing  wives,  he  thought  it  a  high  point  of  prudence  (as 
indeed  it  was)  to  establish  the  succession  with  more 
stays  than  one,  and  not  to  let  it  rest  on  so  weak  a  staff, 
as  a  child  of  little  more  than  nine  years  of  age.  For 
which  cause  he  procured  an  act  of  parliament,  in  the 
35th  year  of  his  reign,  in  which  it  is  declared,  that,  in 
default  of  issue  of  the  said  prince  Edward,  the  crown 
should  be  entailed  to  the  king's  daughter,  the  lady  Mary, 
and  the  heirs  of  her  body,  and  for  default  thereof,  to  the 
king's  daughter,  the  lady  Elizabeth,  and  the  heirs  of  her 
body ;  and  for  lack  of  such  issue,  to  such  as  the  king, 
by  his  letters  patents,  or  his  last  will,  in  writing,  should 

limit Of  which  act  of  parliament,  being  now  sick, 

and  fearing  his  approaching  end,  he  resolved  to  make 
such  use  in  laying  down  the  state  of  the  succession  to 
the  crown  imperial,  as  was  more  agreeable  to  his  private 
passions  than  the  rules  of  justice ;  which  appeared 
plainly  by  his  excluding  of  the  whole  Scottish  line,  de 
scended  from  the  lady  Margaret,  his  eldest  sister,  from 

all  hopes  thereof. .  „ His  infirmity,  and  the  weakness 

which  it  brought  upon  him,  having  confined  him  to  his 
bed,  he  had  a  great  desire  to  receive  the  sacrament ;  and 


ART.  vi.]  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY.  319 

being  persuaded  to  receive  it  in  the  easiest  posture,  sit 
ting,  or  raised  up  in  his  bed,  he  would  by  no  means 
yield  unto  it ;  but  caused  himself  to  be  taken  up,  placed 
in  his  chair,  in  which  he  heard  the  greatest  part  of  the 
office,  till  the  consecration,  and  then  received  the  blessed 
sacrament  on  his  knees,  as  at  other  times,  saying  withal, 
as  Sanders  doth  relate  the  story,  'that  if  he  did  not 
only  cast  himself  upon  the  ground,  but  even  under  it 
also,  he  could  not  give  unto  the  sacrament  the  honour 
which  was  due  unto  it.'  The  instant  of  his  death  ap 
proaching,  none  of  his  servants,  though  thereunto  de 
sired  by  his  physicians,  durst  acquaint  him  with  it,  till, 
at  last,  sir  Anthony  Denny  undertook  that  ungrateful 
office  ;  which  the  king  entertaining  with  less  impatience 
than  was  looked  for  from  him,  gave  order  that  arch 
bishop  Cranmer  should  be  presently  sent  for.  But  the 
archbishop  being  then  at  his  house  in  Croydon,  it  was 
so  long  before  he  came,  that  he  found  him  speechless. 
Howsoever,  applying  himself  to  the  king's  present  con 
dition,  and  discoursing  to  him  on  this  point,  that  salva 
tion  was  to  be  obtained  only  by  faith  in  Christ,  he 
desired  the  king,  that,  if  he  understood  the  effect  of  his 
words,  and  believed  the  same,  he  would  signify  as  much 
by  some  sign  or  other;  which  the  king  did,  by  jAN.28, 
wringing  him  gently  by  the  hand ;  and  within  1547- 
a  short  time  after  he  gave  up  the  ghost." 

If  any  one  is  disposed  to  interpret  this  wringing  of 
Cranmer  by  the  hand,  as  a  profession  of  the  reformed 
religion,  in  that  capital  article,  of  faith  alone  in  the  me 
rits  of  Christ,  it  will  be  a  difficult  matter  to  reconcile  it 
with  his  last  will  and  testament,  wherein  he  makes  his 
application  to  the  blessed  Virgin  arid  the  saints ;  for  both 
in  his  will,  and  in  his  last  speech  in  parliament,  there 
are  several  things  which  neither  catholics  nor  protestants 
will  think  proper  to  allow  of.  In  his  last  speech,  after 
having  returned  thanks  to  the  house  for  the  present  they 
had  made  him  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  colleges,  hos 
pitals,  chapels,  chantries,  &c.,  which  he  promises  to  em- 

1  Heylin,  14—16. 


320  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

ploy  to  the  honour  and  glory  of  God,  he  takes  notice  of  the 
many  divisions,  and  want  of  charity,  that  daily  increased 
amongst  his  subjects ;  that  preachers  were  continually 
railing  against  one  another,  with  the  imputation  of  he 
retics,  papists,  and  anabaptists  ;  that  there  was  no  hope 
of  a  reconciliation,  some  being  fond  of  their  new  sump- 
simus,  whilst  others  were  stiff  in  their  old  mumpsimus; 
that  the  laity  took  unreasonable  and  unmannerly  liber 
ties  in  declaiming  against  the  clergy ;  that,  in  all  their 
contests  about  religion,  they  ought  not  to  pronounce 
upon  matters  themselves,  but  have  recourse  to  him,  who 
was  the  vicar  of  Christ,  and  who,  with  the  assistance  of 
his  counsel,  could  put  things  to  rights  ;  that  they  read 
the  Scriptures,  and  notoriously  abused  them,  to  the 
worst  of  purposes ;  that,  in  fine,  God  was  never  less  ho 
noured,  nor  virtue  less  countenanced,  than  in  those  his 
days.1  As  to  his  last  will,  which  bears  date  December  30, 
1546,  it  runs  altogether  in  the  strain  of  the  old  religion, 
excepting  the  title  that  he  gives  himself,  of  being  the  su 
preme  head  of  the  church  of  England  immediately  under 
God.  He  professes  his  belief  in  the  real  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar :  he  "  instantly  de 
sires"  the  prayers  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  of 
"  all  the  holy  company  of  heaven  :"  he  directs  altars  to 
be  erected,  and  masses  to  be  offered,  for  the  repose  of 
his  soul,  "  while  the  world  shall  endure  ;"  arid  he  assigns 
a  sum  of  one  thousand  marks,  to  be  distributed  in  alms 
on  the  day  of  his  burial,  ordering  his  executors  to  "  move 
the  poor  people  to  pray  heartily  unto  God  for  remission 
of  his  offences,  and  the  wealth  of  his  soul." 2 

When  all  the  particulars  of  this  king's  life  are  put 
together,  they  afford  so  much  variety,  and  are  so  incon 
sistent  with  one  another,  that  he  scarce  ever  appeared 
in  a  proper  light,  to  have  his  character  drawTn  :  so,  rather 
than  attempt  anything  of  that  kind  myself,  I  will  remit 
the  reader  to  others,  who  are  better  qualified  for  that 
performance.  Now,  they  tell  us,  that  "  all  the  virtues 
and  vices  of  all  his  predecessors,  from  the  conquest,  may 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  XLIX.  2  See  Appendix,  No.  L. 


ART.  vi.]  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY.  321 

seem  in  him  fully  represented,  both  to  their  kind  and 
degree  ;  learning,  wisdom,  valour,  magnificence,  cruelty, 
avarice,  fury,  and  lust."1  "  He  was  one  of  an  uncom 
mon  character;  in  whose  great  mind  was  confusedly 
mixed  many  eminent  virtues,  with  no  less  notorious 
vices."2  In  particular,  "  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  he 
had  too  much  of  the  tyrant  in  him."3  For  "  wherever 
he  found  incompliance,  or  suspected  disaffection,  he  let 
loose  the  rigour  of  the  law."4  "  He  has  been  too  justly 
charged  with  cruelty,  rapaciousness,  and  lust. . . .  And 
the  hand  of  heaven  seemed  to  lie  heavy  upon  him  and 
his  family ;  for,  notwithstanding  all  his  extraordinary 
methods  to  obtain  posterity,  and  his  peculiar  establish 
ments  of  the  succession,  from  six  several  wives  he  was 
not  able  to  produce  one  grandchild."5  Some  paint  him 
out  still  in  blacker  colours^  and  stick  not  to  say,  "  that 
he  never  spared  woman  in  his  lust,  nor  man  in  his  an 
ger."6  And  sir  Walter  Raleigh  says  of  him,  "  that,  if 
all  the  patterns  of  a  merciless  prince  had  been  lost  in 
the  world,  they  might  have  been  found  in  this  king." 

This  is  the  description  which  Protestant  writers  give 
of  king  Henry  ;  and  those  of  the  catholic  party  are  not 
more  favourable  to  his  memory.  It  is  to  be  supposed, 
that  they  had  truth  chiefly  in  view,  in  drawing  his  cha 
racter  ;  but  then,  both  parties  might  be  induced,  by  par 
ticular  motives,  to  give  him  no  quarter.  Catholics, 
questionless,  thought  it  to  be  very  much  to  the  advan 
tage  of  the  old  religion,  that  a  person  of  so  vile  a  cha 
racter  should  lay  the  first  corner-stone  of  the  new  one ; 
and  they  might  be  confirmed  in  this  opinion,  from  the 
in  consistence  with  the  usual  methods  of  divine  provi 
dence.  For  what  can  reflect  more  upon  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  the  supreme  Being,  than  to  make  use 
of  such  unworthy  instruments  to  reform  his  church  ? 
On  the  other  hand,  Protestant  writers  may  allege,  that 
Heaven  is  not  confined  to  human  rules,  but  may  make 
use  of  any  methods,  though  never  so  unsuitable,,  as  ac- 

1  Fuller,  B.  5,  p.  165.  2  Camden,  Introd.  to  the  Annals  of  Q.  Eliz. 

3  Heylin,  15.  4  Collier,  ii.  153.  5  Echard,  i.  716,  717. 

e  Heylin,  14. 
VOL.  I.  Y 


322  HENRY  VIII.  [PART  i. 

tually  was  done,  when  such  despicable  persons  as  the 
twelve  apostles  were  employed  in  planting  the  gospel 
all  over  the  world ;  to  which  they  may  farther  add,  that, 
though  king  Henry  and  his  instruments  were  guilty  of 
many  notorious  offences,  yet  being  educated  in  popish 
principles,  which  they  still,  in  a  great  measure  retained, 
it  is  to  these,  and  not  to  the  maxims  of  the  reformers, 
that  their  irregularities  and  crimes  are  to  be  ascribed. 
But  how  plausible  soever  this  comment  upon  king 
Henry's  morals  may  appear  to  prejudiced  persons,  and 
such  as  are  void  of  thought  and  reflection,  it  will  not 
stand  the  test  before  those,  that  have  a  rational  way  of 
thinking,  and  give  themselves  leisure  to  consider  cir 
cumstances,  as  well  as  facts.  It  will  not  be  denied  by 
catholics,  but  that  God,  in  regard  of  his  omnipotence 
and  absolute  power,  may  make  use  of  what  instruments 
he  pleases,  to  carry  on  his  works,  though  never  so  much 
disproportioned ;  but,  if  regard  be  had  to  the  estab 
lished  methods  of  Providence,  whether  natural  or  moral, 
certain  qualifications  are  required,  in  every  instrument 
that  produces  an  effect.  And,  particularly  as  to  the 
government  of  the  church  of  God,  whether  planting  or 
reforming,  it  is  highly  injurious  both  to  the  wisdom,  and 
all  the  other  attributes,  of  the  Deity,  to  imagine,  that 
wicked  instruments  should  be  employed  to  any  such 
purposes.  It  is  true,  the  apostles  were  unqualified,  as 
to  the  secular  advantages  of  learning,  riches,  power,  in 
terest,  &c. ;  but  then,  they  were  honest  men,  they  were 
just  men,  they  were  religious  men,  they  were  inoffensive  in 
their  behaviour,  both  in  the  eye  of  God  and  the  world.  This 
qualified  them  for  the  work  they  were  employed  in;  where 
as,  immorality,  as  ambition,  lust,  avarice,  sensuality,  sacri 
lege,  theft,  murder,  revenge,  and  cruelty,  and  such  like 
crimes  (could  their  enemies  have  charged  them  with  them) , 
would  have  proved  such  disqualifications,  that  God  would 
never  have  appeared  in  their  cause,  nor  would  their 
preaching  have  had  any  effect.  Upon  this  account  it  is, 
that  catholics  cannot  get  over  the  difficulty  how  God 
could  employ  wicked  instruments  to  reform  his  church. 
What  is  mentioned  in  the  next  place,  by  way  of  reply  to 


ART.  vi.]  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY.  323 

catholics,,  may,  perhaps,  have  something  of  ingenuity, 
but  it  wants  solidity  to  a  great  degree.  To  charge  the 
scandalous  part  of  king  Henry's  life  upon  his  popish 
education,  is  so  groundless  an  aspersion,  that  it  is  incon 
sistent  with  every  circumstance  of  the  facts.  While  he 
lived,  like  other  princes,  in  a  due  subjection  to  the  see 
of  Rome  in  all  spiritual  matters,  no  one  had  a  better 
character  ;  but,  as  the  first  step  of  unfortunate  children 
is  disobedience  to  their  parents,  this  seems  to  have  been 
the  origin  of  king  Henry's  disorderly  life ;  who  no  sooner 
had  broke  out  of  the  pale  of  the  church,  but  he  ranged, 
without  control,  through  all  the  paths  of  vice.  Per 
haps,  catholics  will  not  recriminate  so  closely  in  their 
reflections,  as  to  charge  the  monstrous  crimes  he  was 
guilty  of  upon  the  reformers'  principles  (though  some 
of  his  advisers,  who  put  him  upon  the  method  of  reform 
ing,  were  capable  of  delivering  such  lessons) ;  yet  it  has 
always  been  an  observation,  both  in  private  life,  and  in 
the  fate  of  nations,  that  a  defection  from  the  universal 
church  had  two  dismal  consequences,  free-thinking  as 
to  religion,  and  a  boundless  liberty  as  to  morals. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. — (Referred  to  at  page  121.) 

Letter  of  complaint ,  sent  by  the  nobles  and  commons  of  England  to  pope 
Innocent  IV.,  at  the  general  council  of  Lyons,  anno  124?5  :  translated 
by  Foxe  (I.  326J,  from  the  Latin  of  M.  Paris,  p.  585. 

To  the  Reverend  Father  in  Christ,  pope  Innocent,  chief  bishop,  the 
nobles,  with  the  whole  commonalty  of  the  realm  of  England,  send  com 
mendation,  with  kissing  of  his  blessed  feet. 

Our  mother,  the  church  of  Rome,  we  love  with  all  our  hearts,  as  our 
duty  is,  and  covet  the  increase  of  her  honour,  with  so  much  affection  as 
we  may,  as  to  whom  we  ought  always  to  fly  for  refuge,  whereby  the 
grief,  lying  upon  the  child,  may  find  comfort  at  the  mother's  hand 
which  succour  the  mother  is  bound  so  much  the  rather  to  impart  to  her 
child,  how  much  more  kind  and  beneficial  she  findeth  him  in  relieving 
her  necessity.  Neither  is  it  to  the  said  our  mother  unknown,  how  bene 
ficial  and  bountiful  a  giver  the  realm  of  England  hath  been,  now  of  long 
time,  for  the  more  amplifying  of  her  exaltation,  as  appeared  by  our 
yearly  subsidy,  which  we  term  by  the  name  of  Peter-pence.  Now  the 
said  church,  not  content  with  this  yearly  subsidy,  hath  sent  divers 
legates  for  other  contributions,  at  divers  and  sundry  times,  to  be  taxed, 
and  levied  out  of  the  same  realm,  all  which  contributions  and  taxes, 
notwithstanding,  have  been  lovingly  and  liberally  granted. 

Furthermore,  neither  is  it  unknown  to  your  fatherhood,  how  our  fore 
fathers,  like  good  catholics,  both  loving,  and  fearing  their  Maker,  for 
the  soul's  health  as  well  of  themselves  as  of  their  progenitors,  and  suc 
cessors  also,  have  founded  monasteries,  and  largely  have  endowed  the 
same,  both  with  their  own  proper  lands,  and  also  patronages  of  bene 
fices,  whereby  such  religious  persons,  professing  the  first  and  chiefest 
perfection  of  holy  religion,  in  their  monasteries,  might,  with  more  peace 
and  tranquillity,  occupy  themselves  devoutly  in  God's  service,  as  to  the 
order  appertained ;  and  also  the  clerks,  presented  by  them  into  their 


326  APPENDIX. 

benefices,  might  sustain  the  other  exterior  labours  for  them,  in  that 
second  order  of  religion,  and  so  discharge,  and  defend  them  from  all 
hazards ;  so  that  the  said  religious  monasteries  cannot  be  defrauded  of 
those  their  patronages,  and  collations  of  benefices,  but  the  same  must 
touch  us  also  very  near,  and  work  intolerable  griefs  unto  our  hearts. 

And  now  see,  we  beseech  you,  which  is  lamentable  to  behold,  what 
injuries  we  sustain  by  you  and  your  predecessors,  who,  not  considering 
those  our  subsidies,  and  contributions  above  remembered,  do  suffer  also 
your  Italians  and  foreigners,  which  be  out  of  number,  to  be  possessed 
of  our  churches  and  benefices  in  England,  pertaining  to  the  right  and 
patronage  of  those  monasteries  aforesaid ;  which  foreigners  neither  de 
fending  the  said  religious  persons,  whom  they  ought  to  see  to,  nor  yet 
having  the  language,  whereby  theymay  instruct  the  flock,1  take  no  regard 
of  their  souls,  but  utterly  leave  them,  of  wild  wolves  to  be  devoured  : 
wherefore,  it  may  truly  be  said  of  them,  that  they  are  no  good  shepherds, 
whereas  neither  they  know  their  sheep,  nor  the  sheep  do  know  the  voice 
of  their  shepherds.  Neither  do  they  keep  any  hospitality,  (or  practice 
any  alms-giving),2  but  only  take  up  the  rents  of  those  benefices,  carry 
ing  them  out  of  the  realm,  wherewith  our  brethren,  our  nephews,  and 
our  kinsfolks,  might  be  sustained,  who  could  and  would  dwell  upon  them, 
and  employ  such  exercises  of  mercy  and  hospitality,  as  their  duty  re 
quired  ;  whereof  a  great  number  now,  for  mere  necessity,  are  laymen, 
and  fain  to  fly  out  of  the  realm. 

And  now,  to  the  intent  more  fully  to  certify  you  of  the  truth,  ye  shall 
understand,  that  the  said  Italians  and  strangers,  receiving  of  yearly  rents 
out  of  England  not  so  little  as  60,000  marks  by  year,  besides  other  avails 
and  excises  deducted,  do  reap,  in  the  said  our  kingdom  of  England,  more 
emoluments  of  mere  rents,  than  doth  the  king  himself,  being  both  tutor 
of  the  church,  and  governor  of  the  land. 

Furthermore,  whereas,  at  the  first  creation  of  your  papacy,  we  were 
in  good  hope,  and  yet  are,  that,  by  means  of  your  fatherly  goodness,  we 
should  enjoy  our  franchises,  and  free  collation  of  our  benefices,  and 
donatives,  to  be  reduced  again  to  the  former  state,  now  cometh  another 
grievance,  which  we  cannot  but  signify  unto  you,  pressing  us  above 
measure,  which  we  receive  by  M.  Martinus,  who  entering  late  into  our 
land,  without  leave  of  our  king,  with  greater  power  than  ever  was  seen 
before  in  any  legate,  although  he  beareth  not  the  state  and  shew  of  a 
legate,  yet  he  hath  doubled  the  doings  of  a  legate,  charging  us  every 
day  with  new  mandates,  and  so,  most  extremely  hath  oppressed  us ;  first, 

1  [The  words  in  italics  are  not  in  the  original. — T.~\ 
2  [The  words  in  this  parenthesis  are  omitted  by  Foxe. — T.~\ 


APPENDIX.  327 

ln  bestowing  and  giving  away  our  benefices,  if  any  were  above  30  marks, 
as  soon  as  they  were  vacant,  to  Italian  persons ;  secondly,  after  the  de 
cease  of  the  said  Italians,  unknowing  to  the  patrons,  he  hath  intruded 
other  Italians  therein,  whereby  the  true  patrons  have  been  spoiled  and 
defrauded  of  their  right ;  thirdly,  the  said  M.  Martinus  yet  also  ceaseth 
not  to  assign  and  confer  such  benefices  still  unto  the  like  persons,  and 
some  he  reserveth  to  the  donation  of  the  apostolic  see  ;  and  extorteth, 
moreover,  from  religious  houses  immoderate  pensions,  excommunicating 
and  interdicting  whosoever  dare  gainstand  him.  Wherefore,  forasmuch 
as  the  said  M.  Martin  hath  so  far  extended  his  jurisdiction  (a  jurisdic 
tion,  which,  we  are  confident,  he  has  not  received  from  you),1  to  the 
great  perturbation  of  the  whole  realm,  and  no  less  derogation  to  our 
king's  privilege,  to  whom  it  hath  been  fully  granted  by  the  see  apostolic, 
that  no  legate  should  have  to  do  in  his  land,  but  such  as  he,  by  special 
letters,  did  send  for ;  we,  with  most  humble  devotion,  beseech  you,  that, 
as  a  good  father  will  always  be  ready  to  support  his  child,  so  your  father 
hood  will  reach  forth  your  hand  of  compassion  to  relieve  us,  your  hum 
ble  children,  from  these  grievous  oppressions.  And  although  our  lord 
and  king,  being  a  catholic  prince,  and  wholly  given  to  his  devotions, 
and  service  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  so  that  he  respecteth  not  the  health 
of  his  own  body,  will  fear  and  reverence  the  see  apostolic,  and,  as  a  de 
vout  son  of  the  church  of  Rome,  desireth  nothing  more  than  to  advance 
the  estate  and  honour  of  the  same,  yet  we,  which  travail  in  his  affairs, 
bearing  the  heat  and  burthen  of  the  day,  and  whose  duty,  together  with 
him,  is,  to  tender  the  preservation  of  the  public  wealth,  neither  can 
patiently  suffer  such  oppressions,  so  detestable  to  God  and  man,  and 
grievances  intolerable,  neither,  by  God's  grace,  will  suffer  them,  through 
the  means  of  your  godly  remedy,  which  we  will  hope  and  trust  of  you 
speedily  to  obtain.  And  thus,  may  it  please  your  fatherhood,  we  beseech 
you  to  accept  this  our  supplication,  who,  in  so  doing,  shall  worthily  de 
serve  of  all  the  lords  and  nobles,  with  the  whole  commonalty  of  the  realm 
of  England,  condign  and  special  thanks  accordingly. 

No.  II.— (Referred  to  at  page  129.) 

Stat.9  Hen.lll.  cap.  36. —  JV0  land  to  be  given  in  Mortmain. — It  shall 
not  be  lawful,  from  henceforth,  to  any  to  give  his  lands  to  any  religious 
house,  and  to  take  the  same  land  again,  to  hold  of  the  same  house.  Nor 
shall  it  be  lawful  to  any  house  of  religion  to  take  the  lands  of  any,  and 
to  lease  the  same  to  him,  of  whom  he  received  it.  If  any,  from  hence- 

1  [The  words  in  this  parenthesis  are  omitted  by  Foxe.— TV] 


328  APPENDIX. 

forth,  give  his  lands  to  any  religious  house,  and  thereupon  be  convict, 
the  gift  shall  be  utterly  void,  and  the  land  shall  accrue  to  the  lord  of 
the  fee. 

Stat.  7  Ed.  I.  St.  2.  All  alienations  of  land  in  mortmain,  whether 
by  sale  or  gift,  by  whatever  means,  or  under  whatever  pretext,  are  for 
bidden,  on  pain  of  forfeiture  to  the  immediate  lord  of  the  fee ;  or,  in  his 
default  for  twelve  months,  to  the  lord  paramount ;  or,  in  default  of  the 
lord  paramount,  for  other  six  months,  to  the  crown. 

Stat.  13  Ed.  I.  cap.  32.  To  prevent  collusion,  this  statute  provides, 
that,  in  all  cases,  wherein  the  clergy  or  religious  shall  set  up  a  title  to  any 
land,  and  judgment  shall  be  suffered  to  go  by  default,  a  jury  shall  be 
empannelled  to  try  the  validity  of  the  title  ;  and  if  fraud  shall  be  dis 
covered,  the  land  shall  be  forfeited,  as  under  the  preceding  statute. 

Stat.  15  Ric.  II.  cap.  5.  This  statute  enacts,  that  all  lands,  held  in 
trust  for  the  use  of  ecclesiastical  corporations,  shall  henceforth  be  taken 
and  deemed  to  be  in  mortmain :  it  orders  all  such  lands,  fees,  and  pos 
sessions  to  be  forthwith  amortized,  or  otherwise  alienated,  on  pain  of 
forfeiture ;  and  it  extends  its  provisions,  and  those  of  the  preceding 
statutes,  to  all  secular  corporations,  to  all  mayors,  bailiffs  and  commons 
of  cities  and  other  places,  having  a  perpetual  commonalty,  or  offices 
perpetual. 

No.  III.— (Referred  to  at  page  134.) 

Stat.  3  Ed.  1.  cap.  I.  Of  Religious  Houses. — And  because  that 
abbeys,  and  houses  of  religion  of  the  land,  have  been  overcharged,  and 
sore  grieved,  by  the  resort  of  great  men  and  other,  so  that  their  goods 
have  not  been  sufficient  for  themselves,  whereby  they  have  been  greatly 
hindred  and  impoverished,  that  they  cannot  maintain  themselves,  nor 
such  charity  as  they  have  been  accustomed  to  do ;  It  is  provided,  that 
none  shall  come  to  eat  or  lodge  in  any  house  of  religion,  of  any  other's 
foundation  than  of  his  own,  at  the  costs  of  the  house,  unless  he  be  re 
quired  by  the  governor  of  the  house,  before  his  coming  thither.  And 
that  none,  at  his  own  costs,  shall  enter  and  come  to  lie  there,  against  the 
will  of  them  that  be  of  the  house.  And  that  no  purveyance  be  de 
manded  from  a  prelate  or  other  religious  person,  without  the  owner's 
consent.  And  the  king  forbiddeth  and  commandeth,  that  none,  from 
henceforth,  do  hurt,  damage,  or  grievance,  to  any  religious  man,  or  per 
son  of  the  church,  or  any  other,  because  they  have  denied  meat  or  lodg 
ing  unto  them,  or  because  that  any  complaineth  in  the  king's  court,  that 
he  hath  been  grieved  in  any  of  the  things  above  mentioned.  And  if  any 
do,  and  hereof  be  attainted,  he  shall  incur,  &c. 

Cap.  2.     Of  Clerks  convicted  of  felony.  —  It  is  provided  also,  that, 


APPENDIX.  329 

when  a  clerk  is  taken  for  guilty  of  felony,  and  is  demanded  by  the 
ordinary,  he  shall  be  delivered  to  him,  according  to  the  privilege  of 
holy  church,  on  such  peril  as  belongeth  to  it,  after  the  custom  aforetimes 
used.  And  the  king  admonisheth  the  prelates,  and  enjoineth  them, 
upon  the  faith  that  they  owe  to  him,  and  for  the  common  profit  and 
peace  of  the  realm,  that  they  which  be  indicted  pf  such  offences,  by 
solemn  inquest  of  lawful  men,  in  the  king's  court,  in  no  manner  shall 
be  delivered  without  due  purgation,  so  that  the  king  shall  not  need  to 
provide  any  other  remedy  therein.1 

Stat.  13  Ed.  I.  cap.  34.  Of  carrying  off  a  Nun. — He  that  carrieth 
a  nun  from  her  house,  although  she  consent,  shall  be  punished  by  three 
years'  imprisonment,  and  shall  make  convenient  satisfaction  to  the  house, 
from  whence  she  was  taken,  and  nevertheless  shall  make  fine  at  the 
king's  will. 

Cap.  41.  Of  alienating  Abbey  and  other  lands. — If  abbey  lands,  or 
lands  given  for  the  maintenance  of  a  chantry,  or  of  light  in  a  church  or 
chapel,  or  for  other  alms,  be  alienated,  the  lands  shall  be  taken  into  the 
king's  hands,  and  the  purchaser  shall  lose  his  recovery,  as  well  of  the 
lands,  as  of  the  money  that  he  paid,  and  the  representative  of  the  founder 
shall  have  a  writ,  to  recover  the  same  lands  in  demesne. 

Stat.  Circumspecte  agatis.  13  Ed.  I.  Certain  cases,  wherein  the 
kings  prohibition  doth  not  lie. — The  king  to  his  judges  sendeth  greeting. 
Use  yourselves  circumspectly  in  all  matters  concerning  the  bishop  of 
Norwich  and  his  clergy,  not  punishing  them  if  they  hold  plea,  in  court 
Christian,  of  such  things  as  be  meer  spiritual,  that  is  to  wit,  of  penance 
enjoined  by  prelates  for  deadly  sin,  as  fornication,  adultery,  and  such 
like,  for  the  which,  sometimes  corporal  penance,  and  sometime  pecuni 
ary,  is  enjoined ;  specially  if  a  freeman  be  convict  of  such  things. 

Also  if  prelates  do  punish  for  leaving  the  church-yard  unclosed,  or  for 
that  the  church  is  uncovered,  or  not  conveniently  decked,  in  which  cases 
none  other  penance  can  be  enjoined  but  pecuniary. 

Item,  if  a  parson  demand  of  his  parishioners  oblations  or  tithes  due 
and  accustomed ;  or  if  any  parson  do  sue  against  another  parson  for 
tithes  greater  or  smaller,  so  that  the  fourth  part  of  the  value  of  the 
benefice  be  not  demanded. 

Item,  if  a  parson  demand  mortuaries,  in  places  where  a  mortuary  hath 
been  used  to  be  given. 

Item,  if  a  prelate  of  a  church,  or  a  patron,  demand  of  a  parson  a  pen 
sion,  due  to  him,  all  such  demands  are  to  be  made  in  a  spiritual  court. 

1  This  part  of  the  statute  is  repeated  and  confirmed,  in  Stat.  25  Ed.  III. 
St.  3,  cap.  4. 


330  APPENDIX. 

And  for  laying  violent  hands  on  a  clerk,  and  in  cause  of  defamation,  it 
hath  been  granted  already,  that  it  shall  be  tried  in  a  spiritual  court,  when 
money  is  not  demanded,  but  a  thing  done  for  punishment  of  sin  ;  and 
likewise  for  breaking  an  oath.  In  all  cases  afore  rehearsed,  the  spiritual 
judge  shall  have  power  to  take  knowledge,  notwithstanding  the  king's 
prohibition.  ^ 

Stat.  de  asportatis  Eeligiosorum.  35  Ed.  I.  cap.  1. — Of  late  it  came 
to  the  knowledge  of  our  lord,  the  king,  by  the  grievous  complaint  of  the 
honourable  persons,  lords,  and  other  noblemen  of  his  realm,  that, 
whereas  monasteries,  priories,  and  other  religious  houses,  were  founded 
to  the  honour  and  glory  of  God,  and  the  advancement  of  the  holy  church, 
by  the  king  and  his  progenitors,  and  by  the  said  noblemen  and  their 
ancestors,  and  a  very  great  portion  of  lands  and  tenements  have  been 
given  by  them  to  the  said  monasteries,  priories,  and  houses,  and  the 
religious  men  serving  God  in  them,  to  the  intent  that  clerks  and  laymen 
might  be  admitted  to  such  monasteries,  priories,  and  religious  houses, 
according  to  their  sufficient  ability,  and  that  sick  and  feeble  men  might 
be  maintained,  hospitality,  alms-giving,  and  other  charitable  deeds  might 
be  done,  and  that  in  them  prayers  might  be  said  for  the  souls  of  the  said 
founders  and  their  heirs,  the  abbots,  priors,  and  governors  of  the  said 
houses,  and  certain  aliens,  their  superiors,  as  the  abbots  and  priors  of 
Cistercienses  and  Premonstratenses,  and  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine, 
and  St.  Benedict,  and  many  more  of  other  religious  orders,  have,  at  their 
own  pleasures,  set  divers  unwonted,  heavy,  and  importable  tallages, 
payments,  and  impositions,  upon  every  of  the  said  monasteries  and 
houses  in  subjection  unto  them,  in  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and 
Wales,  without  the  privity  of  our  lord,  the  king,  and  his  nobility,  con 
trary  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  said  realm  ;  and  thereby  the  num 
ber  of  religious  persons  and  other  servants,  in  the  said  houses  and  reli 
gious  places,  being  oppressed  by  such  tallages,  payments,  and  imposi 
tions,  the  service  of  God  is  diminished,  alms  be  not  given  to  the  poor, 
the  sick,  and  feeble ;  the  healths  of  the  living,  and  the  souls  of  the  dead 
be  miserably  defrauded;  hospitality,  alms-giving,  and  other  godly  deeds 
do  cease  ;  and  so,  that  which,  in  times  past,  was  charitably  given  to  godly 
uses,  and  to  the  encrease  of  the  service  of  God,  is  now  converted  to  an 
evil  end ;  by  permission  whereof  there  groweth  great  scandal  to  the  peo 
ple,  and  infinite  losses  and  disheritances  are  like  to  ensue  to  the  founders 
of  the  said  houses,  and  their  heirs,  unless  speedy  and  sufficient  remedy 
be  provided,  to  redress  so  many  and  grievous  detriments  :  Wherefore 
our  foresaid  lord,  the  king,  considering  that  it  would  be  very  prejudicial 
to  him  and  his  people,  if  he  should  any  longer  suffer  so  great  losses  and 
injuries  to  be  winked  at,  and  therefore  being  willing  to  maintain  and 


APPENDIX.  331 

defend  the  monasteries,  priories,  and  other  religious  houses,  erected  in 
his  kingdom,  and  in  all  lands  subject  to  his  dominion,  and,  from  hence 
forth,  to  provide  sufficient  remedy,  to  reform  such  oppressions  as  he  is 
bound,  by  the  counsel  of  his  earls,  barons,  great  men,  and  other  nobles 
of  his  kingdom,  in  his  parliament  holden  at  Westminster,  in  the  five  and 
thirtieth  year  of  his  reign,  hath  ordained  and  enacted  : — 

Cap.  2.  That  no  abbot,  prior,  master,  warden,  or  any  other  religious 
person,  of  whatsoever  condition,  state,  or  religion  he  be,  being  under 
the  king's  power  or  jurisdiction,  shall,  by  himself,  or  by  merchants,  or 
others,  secretly  or  openly,  by  any  device  or  means,  carry,  or  send,  or  by 
any  means  cause  to  be  sent,  any  tax  imposed  by  the  abbots,  priors,  mas 
ters,  or  wardens  of  religious  houses,  their  superiors,  assessed  amongst 
themselves,  out  of  his  kingdom  and  his  dominion,  under  the  name  of 
rent,  tallage,  or  any  kind  of  imposition,  or  otherwise,  byway  of  exchange, 
mutual  sale,  or  other  contract,  howsoever  it  may  be  termed.  Neither 
shall  depart  into  any  other  country,  for  visitation,  or  upon  any  other 
colour,  by  that  means  to  carry  the  goods  of  their  monasteries  and  houses 
out  of  the  kingdom  and  dominion  aforesaid. 

No.  IV — (Referred  to  at  page  138J 
Stat.  9  Ed.  II.  Articuli  Cleri. 

Cap.  1  and  2  repeat  a  part  of  the  enactments  of  the  Statute  "  Cir- 
cumspecte  agatis,"  given  in  the  preceding  number. 

Cap.  3. — If  any  lay  violent  hands  on  a  clerk,  the  amends  for  the  peace 
broken  shall  be  before  the  king,  and  for  the  excommunication  before  a 
prelate,  that  penance  corporal  may  be  enjoined  ;  which  if  the  offender 
will  redeem  of  his  own  good  will,  by  giving  money  to  the  prelate,  or  to 
the  party  grieved,  it  shall  be  required  before  the  prelate,  and  the  king's 
prohibition  shall  not  lie. 

Cap.  4. — In  defamations,  also,  prelates  shall  correct,  in  manner  above- 
said,  the  king's  prohibition  notwithstanding,  first  enjoining  a  penance 
corporal ;  which  if  the  offender  will  redeem,  the  prelate  may  freely  re 
ceive  the  money,  though  the  king's  prohibition  be  shewed. 

Cap.  5. — Ordains,  that  no  prohibition  shall  lie  against  the  demand  of 
tithe  from  a  new  mill : 

Cap.  6. — Nor  against  proceeding  in  the  civil  court,  in  a  case  which 
has  been  tried  and  decided,  by  the  spiritual  judge. 

Cap.  7- — The  king's  letters  shall  not  be  sent,  to  discharge  an  excom 
municate,  except  in  case  the  king's  liberty  is  prejudiced  by  the  ex 
communication. 

Cap.  8. — It  pleaseth  our  lord,  the  king,  that  such  clerks  as  attend  to 
his  service,  if  they  offend,  shall  be  correct  by  their  ordinaries,  like  as 


332  APPENDIX. 

other :  but  so  long  as  they  are  occupied  about  the  exchequer,  they  shall 
not  be  bound  to  keep  residence  in  their  churches. 

Cap.  9.— No  distresses  shall  be  levied  in  the  highway,  or  in  the 
ancient  fees  of  the  church. 

Cap.  10. — Persons  abjuring  the  realm  shall  be  "in  the  king's  peace," 
whilst  on  the  highway,  or  in  the  church. 

Cap.  11. — Adds  the  compulsory  levying  of  corrodies  and  pensions  to 
the  offences,  for  which  remedy  may  be  had,  by  the  Statute  3  Ed.  1 .  cap.  !• 

Cap.  12. — A  clerk,  excommunicate  for  contumacy,  may  be  taken  out 
of  the  parish  where  he  dwelleth. 

Cap.  13. — The  examination  of  a  parson,  presented  to  a  benefice, 
belongeth  to  a  spiritual  judge. 

Cap.  14s — Elections  to  dignities  of  the  church  shall  be  made  free, 
according  to  the  form  of  statutes  and  ordinances. 

Cap.  15. — A  clerk  fleeing  to  the  church,  for  felony,  to  obtain  the 
privilege  of  the  church,  if  he  affirm  himself  to  be  a  clerk,  he  shall  not 
be  compelled  to  abjure  the  realm ;  but  yielding  himself  to  the  law  of  the 
realm,  shall  enjoy  the  privilege  of  the  church,  according  to  the  laudable 
custom  of  the  realm,  heretofore  used.1 

Cap.  16. — The  privilege  of  the  church,  being  demanded  by  the  or 
dinary,  shall  not  be  denied  to  a  clerk  that  hath  confessed  felony.2 

N0>  V.— (Referred  to  at  page  138.) 

Stat.  17  Ed.  II.  St.  2.  de  Terris  Templar  iorum. 
I.  For  that  the  military  order  of  Templars  ceasing  and  being  dissolved, 
the  lands  and  tenements  in  demesnes,  fees,  and  services  of  the  brethren  of 
the  same  order,  which  they  held  in  their  fraternity,  in  the  realm  of  Eng 
land,  in  the  time  of  the  same  ceasing  and  dissolution  of  the  foresaid  order, 
which  were  holden  of  our  lord,  the  king,  and  divers  other  lords  in  this  king 
dom,  were  seized  into  the  hands  of  our  sovereign  lord,  the  king,  and  of 
divers  other  lords  of  the  fees  of  them,  who  challenged  the  same  lands 
for  the  consideration  aforesaid,  that  the  same  lands  ought  to  revert  to 
them,  as  their  escheats :  Whereupon,  after,  in  a  parliament  of  the  most 
noble  prince,  king  Edward,  son  of  king  Edward,  summoned  and  assem 
bled  at  Westminster,  three  weeks  after  the  day  of  the  Purification  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  the  reign  of  the  same 
king,  great  conference  was  had  before  the  king  himself,  in  the  presence 

1  [By  the  Statute  21  Jac.  I.  cap.  28,  the  privilege  of  sanctuary  was  for  ever 
abolished.  Of  course,  therefore,  this  chapter,  no  less  than  the  chapter  (10)  re 
lating  to  abjuration,  was  repealed. — T.~] 

3  See  also  Stat.  18  Ed.  III.  St.  3. 


APPENDIX.  333 

of  the  prelates,  earls,  barons,  nobles,  and  great  men  of  the  realm,  and 
others  there  present,  whether  the  foresaid  lords  of  the  fees,  or  others, 
which  held  those  lands  that  were  the  foresaid  Templars,  as  is  aforesaid, 
might  retain  them  by  the  law  of  the  realm,  and  with  safe  conscience : 
Whereupon,  the  greater  part  of  the  king's  council,  as  well  the  justices 
as  other  lay  persons,  being  assembled  together,  the  said  justices  affirmed 
precisely,  that  our  lord,  the  king,  and  other  lords  of  the  fees  aforesaid, 
might  well  and  lawfully,  by  the  laws  of  the  realm,  retain  the  foresaid 
lands  as  their  escheats,  in  regard  of  the  ceasing  and  dissolution  of  the 
order  aforesaid. 

II.  But  because  the  lands  and  tenements  aforesaid  were  given  to  the 
brethren  of  the  said  order,  for  the  defence  of  Christians  and  the  holy 
land,  against  pagans,  and  saracens,  and  other  enemies  of  Christ  and 
Christians,  and  the  universal  holy  church ;  It  seemeth  good  to  our  lord, 
the  king,  the  noblemen,  and  others,  assembled  in  the  same  parliament, 
for  the  health  of  their  souls,  and  discharge  of  their  consciences,  that, 
whereas  the  said  military  order  of  Templars  were  originally  instituted 
for  the  defence  of  Christians,  and  the  universal  holy  church,  subversion 
of  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  Christians,  and  canonized  to  the  augmen 
tation  of  the  honour  of  God,  and  liberal  almsgiving,  that  the  foresaid 
lands  and  tenements  in  demesnes,  lordships,  services,  liberties,  customs, 
and  all  other  things  pertaining  thereunto,  and  by  any  thing  depending 
thereupon,  according  to  the  wills  of  the  givers,  shall  be  assigned  and 
delivered  to  other  men  of  most  holy  religion,  to  the  intent,  the  fruits, 
adventions,    and  profits  of  the  said   lands  and  tenements,  and  other 
things,  may  be  converted,  and  charitably  disposed  to  godly  uses.     And 
thereupon,  in  the  same  parliament,  it  is  agreed,  ordained,  and  established 
for  law,  to  continue  for  ever,  that  neither  our  lord,  the  king,  nor  any 
other  lords  of  the  fees  aforesaid,  or  any  other  person,  hath  title  or  right 
to  retain  the  foresaid  lands  and  tenements,  with  the  appurtenances,  or 
any  part  thereof,  in  regard  of  escheat,  or  by  any  other  means,  or  here 
after  to  challenge  the  same  lands,  in  respect  of  the  ceasing  or  dissolution 
of  the  foresaid  military  order  of  Templars,  whereof  the  brethren  of  the 
same  order  were  seized  in  their  demesnes,  as  of  fee,  at  the  time  of  the 
ceasing  and  dissolution  aforesaid  ;   notwithstanding  that  the  foresaid 
lands  and  tenements,  after  the  said  ceasing  and  dissolution,  came  to  the 
hands  of  divers  persons,  by  descent  of  inheritance,  gift,  or  purchase,  or 
by  any  other  means ;  and  notwithstanding  any  law  or  custom  of  the 
realm  of  England,  whereby  this  law,  ordinance,  and  statute,  touching 
the  assignment  and  conveyance  of  the  foresaid  lands  and  tenements, 
might  be  hindered,  impugned,  or  counterpleaded. 

III.  Seeing  the  order  of  the  brethren  of  the  hospital  of  S< 


n 


334  APPENDIX. 

Hierusalem  was  likewise  ordained,  instituted,  and  canonized,  for  defence 
of  Christians  and  the  holy  church  ;  It  is  agreed,  and  enacted,  in  the  said 
parliament,  by  our  foresaid  lord,  the  king,  the  prelates,  earls,  barons, 
and  other  great  men  of  the  realm  there  being,  that,  insomuch  as  the 
foresaid  order  of  the  Templars  is  ceased  and  dissolved,  and  the  foresaid 
order  of  the  hospital  is  provided,  instituted,  and  canonized,  for  the  de 
fence  of  Christians,  as  is  aforesaid,  that  all  the  lands,  tenements,  lord 
ships,  fees,  churches,  advowsons  of  churches,  and  liberties,  with  all  things 
to  them  belonging,  which  were  the  said  Templars,  at  the  time  of  their 
ceasing  and  dissolution,  shall  be  assigned  and  delivered  to  the  foresaid 
order  of  the  hospital,  and  to  the  prior  and  brethren  of  the  same  hospital, 
to  remain  to  them  and  their  successors  for  ever.  Wherefore,  our  said 
lord,  the  king,  by  the  mutual  assent  of  the  earls,  barons,  and  noblemen 
aforesaid,  of  his  regal  authority,  in  the  same  parliament,  hath  assigned 
to  determine  and  deliver  all  the  foresaid  lands,  tenements,  lordships, 
fees,  churches,  advowsons,  and  liberties,  with  their  appurtenances,  to  the 
foresaid  order  of  the  hospital,  and  to  the  said  prior  and  brethren  of  the 
said  order,  to  have  and  hold  to  the  same  prior,  and  his  brethren,  and 
successors,  for  ever,  of  our  lord,  the  king,  and  other  lords  of  the  fees 
aforesaid,  by  the  same  services,  by  which  the  brethren  of  the  military 
order  of  Templars  held  the  same,  at  the  time  of  their  ceasing  and  disso 
lution  ; — as  in  relieving  of  the  poor,  in  hospitalities,  in  celebrating  divine 
service,  defence  of  the  holy  land,  and  in  all  other  offices  and  services 
before-time  due,  by  whatsoever  names  they  be  called :  so  always,  that 
the  godly  and  worthy  will  of  the  foresaid  givers  be  observed,  performed, 
and  always  religiously  executed,  as  is  aforesaid,  saving  to  every  person 
his  action,  if  he  had  any,  the  time  of  the  ceasing  and  dissolution  afore 
said,  against  the  same  Templars,  in  the  foresaid  lands  and  tenements, 
rents,  services,  customs,  pensions,  corrodies,  liberties,  celebrating  of 
masses,  alms,  and  other  things  whatsoever,  and  liberty  to  prosecute  his 
right  against  the  said  prior  and  brethren  of  the  hospital  aforesaid,  and 
their  brethren,  and  their  successors,  according  to  the  law  and  custom  of 
the  realm,  as  he  might  have  had  against  the  foresaid  Templars,  if  the 
order  aforesaid  had  not  been  dissolved :  And  if  it  fortune  that  the  said 
prior  and  brethren  of  the  hospital  aforesaid,  or  their  successors,  shall  be 
put  out  of  the  foresaid  lands  and  tenements,  or  of  any  parcel  thereof, 
after  they  shall  be  seized  of  the  same,  they  shall  have  power  to  recover 
their  own,  according  to  the  law  of  the  realm. 

IV.  And  to  the  intent,  that  the  assignment,  before  specified,  may 
be  published,  and  made  known  to  all  men,  to  whom  it  behoveth ;  It  is 
ordained  and  agreed,  in  the  same  parliament,  that  it  shall  be  openly  pro 
claimed,  in  every  county  of  this  kingdom,  that  all  and  every  person, 


APPENDIX.  335 

holding  the  lands  and  tenements  aforesaid,  and  all  others,  to  whom  it 
doth  appertain,  shall  be  at  Westminster,  one  month  after  Easter-day 
next,  if  they  will,  to  hear  the  concord,  provision,  and  assignment  afore 
said,  in  form  aforesaid. 


No.  VI.— (Referred  to  at  page  142.) 
Statute  of  Provisors  of  Benefices,  25  Ed.  III.  St.  6. 

I.  Whereas  late,  in  the  parliament  of  good  memory  of  Edward,  king  of 
England,  grandfather  to  our  lord,  the  king,  that  now  is,  the  twenty-fifth1 
year  of  his  reign,  holden  at  Carlisle,  the  petition  heard,  put  before  the  said 
grandfather  and  his  council,  in  his  said  parliament,  by  the  commonalty  of 
the  said  realm,  containing,  that  whereas  the  holy  church  of  England  was 
founded  in  the  estate  of  prelacy,  within  the  realm  of  England,  by  the  said 
grandfather,  and  his  progenitors,  and  the  earls,  barons,  and  other  nobles 
of  his  said  realm,  and  their  ancestors,  to  inform  them,  and  the  people,  of 
the  law  of  God,  and  to  make  hospitalities,  alms,  and  other  works  of 
charity,  in  the  places  where  the  churches  were  founded,  for  the  souls  of 
the  founders,  their  heirs,  and  all  Christians ;  and  certain  possessions,  as 
well  in  fees,  lands,  rents,  as  in  advowsons,  which  do  extend  to  a  great 
value,  were  assigned  by  the  said  founders  to  the  prelates,  and  other  peo 
ple  of  the  holy  church  of  the  said  realm,  to  sustain  the  same  charge,  and 
especially  of  the  possessions  which  were  assigned  to  archbishops,  bishops, 
abbots,  priors,  religious,  and  all  other  people  of  holy  church,  by  the 
kings  of  the  said  realm,  earls,  barons,  and  other  great  men  of  his  realm  ; 
the  same  king,  earls,  barons,  and  other  nobles,  as  lords,  and  advowees, 
have  had,  and  ought  to  have,  the  custody  of  such  voidances,  and  the 
presentments,  and  the  collations  of  the  benefices,  being  of  such  prelacies. 

II.  And  the  said  kings,  in  times  past,  were  wont  to  have  the  greatest 
part  of  their  council  for  the  safeguard  of  the  realm,  when  they  had 
need,  of  such  prelates,  and  clerks  so  advanced  :  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
accroaching  to  him  the  seigniories  of  such  possessions  and  benefices,  doth 
give  and  grant  the  same  benefices  to  aliens,  which  did  never  dwell  in 
England,  and  to  cardinals,  which  might  not  dwell  here,  and  to  other,  as 
well  aliens,  as  denizens,  as  if  he  had  been  patron,  or  advowee  of  the  said 
dignities  and  benefices,  as  he  was  not,  of  right  by  the  law  of  England ; 
whereby,  if  they  should  be  suffered,  there  should  scarcely  be  any  bene 
fice,  within  a  short  time,  in  the  said  realm,  but  that  it  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  aliens  and  denizens,  by  virtue  of  such  provisions,  against  the 

1  [Thus  all  the  printed  copies  of  the  Statute.     Gibson,  however,  has  shown 
that  it  ought  to  be  the  thirty-frftli.     Codex  Jur.  Eccl.  i.  75.— 7YJ 


336  APPENDIX. 

good-will  and  disposition  of  the  founders  of  the  same  benefices.  And 
so,  the  elections  of  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  religious,  should  fail, 
and  the  alms,  hospitalities,  and  other  works  of  charity,  which  should  be 
done  in  the  said  places,  should  be  withdrawn,  the  said  grandfather,  and 
other  lay-patrons,  in  the  time  of  such  voidances,  should  lose  their  pre 
sentment,  the  said  council  should  perish,  and  goods  without  number 
should  be  carried  out  of  the  realm,  in  adnullation  of  the  estate  of  the  holy 
church  of  England,  and  disherison  of  the  said  grandfather,  and  the  earls, 
barons,  and  other  nobles  of  the  said  realm,  and  in  offence,  and  destruc 
tion,  of  the  laws  and  rights  of  his  realm,  and  to  the  great  damage  of  his 
people,  and  in  subversion  of  all  the  estate  of  his  said  realm,  and  against 
the  good  disposition  and  will  of  the  first  founders  :  By  the  assent  of  the 
earls,  barons,  and  other  nobles,  and  of  all  the  said  commonalty,  at  their 
instances  and  requests,  the  damage  and  grievances  afore  considered,  in 
the  said  full  parliament,  it  was  ordained,  provided,  established,  agreed, 
adjudged,  and  considered,  that  the  said  oppressions,  grievances,  and 
damages  in  the  same  realm,  from  henceforth,  should  not  be  suffered  in 
any  manner.  And  now,  it  is  shewed  to  our  lord,  the  king,  in  this  pre 
sent  parliament,  holden  at  Westminster,  at  the  utas  of  the  purification 
of  our  lady,  the  five  and  twentieth  year  of  his  reign  of  England,  and  of 
France  the  twelfth,  by  the  grievous  complaints  of  all  the  commons  of 
his  realm,  that  the  grievances,  and  mischiefs  aforesaid,  do  daily  abound, 
to  the  greater  damage  and  destruction  of  all  his  realm  of  England,  more 
than  ever  were  before :  viz.  that,  now  of  late,  the  bishop  of  Rome,  by 
procurement  of  clerks  and  otherwise,  hath  reserved,  and  doth  daily  re 
serve,  to  his  collation  generally,  and  especially,  as  well  archbishoprics, 
bishoprics,  abbeys,  and  priories,  as  all  other  dignities,  and  other  bene 
fices  of  England,  which  be  of  the  advowry  of  people  of  holy  church, 
and  give  the  same  as  well  to  aliens  as  to  denizens,  and  taketh  of  all  such 
benefices  the  first-fruits,  and  many  other  profits,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
treasure  of  the  said  realm  is  carried  away,  and  dispended  out  of  the 
realm,  by  the  purchasers  of  such  benefices,  and  graces  aforesaid ;  and 
also,  by  such  privy  reservations,  many  clerks  advanced  in  this  realm  by 
their  true  patrons,  which  have  peaceably  holden  their  advancements  by 
long  time,  be  suddenly  put  out :  whereupon,  the  said  commons  have 
prayed  our  said  lord  the  king,  that,  sith  the  right  of  the  crown  of  Eng 
land,  and  the  law  of  the  said  realm,  is  such,  that,  upon  the  mischiefs  and 
damages  which  happen  to  his  realm,  he  ought,  and  is  bound,  by  his  oath, 
with  the  accord  of  his  people  in  his  parliament,  thereof  to  make  remedy 
and  law,  and  in  removing  the  mischiefs  and  damages  which  thereof 
ensue,  that  it  may  please  him  thereupon  to  ordain  remedy. 

III.  Our  lord,  the  king,  seeing  the  mischiefs  and  damage  before  men- 


APPENDIX.  337 

tioned,  and  having  regard  to  the  said  statute,  made  in  the  time  of  his 
said  grandfather,  and  to  the  causes  contained  in  the  same  (which  statute 
holdeth  always  his  force,  and  was  never  defeated,  repealed,  nor  adnulled, 
in  any  point,  and  by  so  much  he  is  bounden,  by  his  oath,  to  cause  the 
same  to  be  kept  as  the  law  of  his  realm,  though  that  by  sufferance  and 
negligence  it  hath  been  sithence  attempted  to  the  contrary),  also  having 
regard  to  the  grievous  complaints  made  to  him  by  his  people,  in  divers 
his  parliaments,  holden  heretofore,  willing  to  ordain  remedy  for  the 
great  damages  and  mischiefs  which  have  happened,  and  daily  do  happen, 
to  the  church  of  England,  by  the  said  cause ;  by  the  assent  of  all  the 
great  men,  and  the  commonalty  of  the  said  realm,  to  the  honour  of  God, 
and  profit  of  the  said  church  of  England,  and  of  all  his  realm,  hath 
ordered  and  established,  That  the  free  elections  of  archbishops,  bishops, 
and  all  other  dignities,  and  benefices  elective  in  England,  shall  hold, 
from  henceforth,  in  the  manner  as  they  were  granted  by  the  king's  pro 
genitors,  and  the  ancestors  ot  other  lords,  founders  of  the  said  dignities, 
and  other  benefices;  and  that  all  prelates,  and  other  people  of  holy 
church,  which  have  advowsons  of  any  benefices  of  the  king's  gift,  or  of 
any  of  his  progenitors,  or  of  other  lords  and  donors,  to  do  divine  ser 
vices,  and  other  charges  thereof  ordained,  shall  have  their  collations  and 
presentments  freely  to  the  same,  in  the  manner  as  they  were  infeoffed 
by  their  donors ;  and,  in  case  that  reservation,  collation,  or  provision, 
be  made  by  the  court  of  Rome,  of  any  archbishopric,  bishopric,  dig 
nity,  or  other  benefice,  in  disturbance  of  the  free  elections,  collations, 
or  presentations,  aforenamed,  which,  at  the  same  time  of  the  avoidance, 
that  such  reservations,  collations,  and  provisions,  ought  to  take  effect, 
our  lord  the  king,  and  his  heirs,  shall  have  and  enjoy,  for  the  same  time, 
the  collations  to  the  archbishoprics,  and  other  dignities  elective,  which 
be  of  his  advowry,  such  as  his  progenitors  had,  before  that  free  election 
was  granted,  since  that  the  election  was  first  granted  by  the  king's  pro 
genitors,  upon  a  certain  form  and  condition,  as,  to  demand  license  of  the 
king  to  choose,  and.  after  the  election,  to  have  his  royal  assent,  and  not 
in  other  manner.  Which  conditions  not  kept,  the  thing  ought,  by  rea 
son,  to  resort  to  his  first  nature. 

IV.  And  if  any  such  reservation,  provision,  or  collation  be  made,  of 
any  house  of  religion  of  the  king's  advowry,  in  disturbance  of  free  elec 
tion,  our  sovereign  lord,  the  king,  and  his  heirs,  shall  have,  for  that 
time,  the  collation,  to  give  this  dignity  to  a  convenient  person  ;  and,  in 
case  that  collation,  reservation,  or  provision,  be  made  by  the  court  of 
Rome,  of  any  church,  prebend,  or  other  benefices,  which  be  of  the 
advowry  of  people  of  holy  church,  whereof  the  king  is  advowee  para 
mount  immediate,  that,  at  the  same  time  of  the  voidance,  at  which  time 
VOL.  I.  Z 


338  APPENDIX. 

the  collation,  reservation,  or  provision  ought  to  take  effect,  as  afore  is 
said,  the  king,  and  his  heirs,  thereof  shall  have  the  presentment,  or  colla 
tion,  for  that  time  :  And  so,  from  time  to  time,  whensoever  such  people 
of  holy  church  shall  be  disturbed  of  their  presentments,  or  collations, 
by  such  reservations,  collations,  or  provisions,  as  afore  is  said ;  saving 
to  them  the  right  of  their  advowsons,  and  their  presentments,  when  no 
collation,  or  provision  of  the  court  of  Rome  is  thereof  made,  where  that 
the  said  people  of  holy  church  shall  or  will  to  the  same  benefices- 
present,  or  make  collation  ;  and  that  their  presentees  may  enjoy  the 
effect  of  their  collations  or  presentments.  And,  in  the  same  manner, 
every  other  lord,  of  what  condition  that  he  be,  shall  have  the 
collations,  or  presentments  to  the  houses  of  religion,  which  be  of  his 
advowry,  and  other  benefices  of  holy  church,  which  be  pertaining  to  the 
same  houses.  And  if  such  advowees  do  not  present  to  such  benefices, 
within  the  half  year  after  such  voidances,  nor  the  bishop  of  the  place  do 
not  give  the  same,  by  lapse  of  time,  within  a  month  after  half-a-year, 
that  then  the  king  shall  have  thereof  the  presentments  and  collations, 
as  he  hath  of  other  of  his  own  advowry :  and,  in  case  that  the  presen 
tees  of  the  king,  or  the  presentees  of  other  patrons  of  holy  church,  or  of 
their  advowees,  or  they  to  whom  the  king,  or  such  patrons,  or  advowees 
aforesaid,  have  given  benefices  pertaining  to  their  presentments,  or  col 
lations,  be  disturbed  by  such  provisors,  so  that  they  may  not  have  pos 
session  of  such  benefices,  by  virtue  of  the  presentments,  or  collations, 
to  them  made,  or  that  they,  which  be  in  possession  of  such  benefices, 
be  impeached  upon  their  said  possessions  by  such  provisors,  then  the 
said  provisors,  their  procurators,  executors,  and  notaries,  shall  be  at 
tached  by  their  body,  and  brought  in,  to  answer ;  arid,  if  they  be  con 
vict,  they  shall  abide  in  prison,  without  being  let  to  mainprise,  or  bail, 
or  otherwise  delivered,  till  that  they  have  made  fine  and  ransom  to  the 
king,  at  his  will,  and  agree  to  the  party  that  shall  feel  himself  grieved : 
and,  nevertheless,  before  that  they  be  delivered,  they  shall  make  full 
renunciation,  and  find  sufficient  surety,  that  they  shall  not  attempt  such 
things,  in  time  to  come,  nor  sue  any  process,  by  them,  nor  by  other, 
against  any  man,  in  the  court  of  Rome,  nor  in  any  part  elsewhere,  for 
any  such  imprisonments,  or  renunciations,  nor  any  other  thing  depend 
ing  of  them. 

V.  And,  in  case  that  such  provisors,  procurators,  executors,  or  nota 
ries,  be  not  found,  that  the  exigent  shall  run  against  them,  by  due  pro 
cess,  and  that  writs  shall  go  forth  to  take  their  bodies,  in  what  parts 
they  be  found,  as  well  at  the  king's  suit,  as  at  the  suit  of  the  party ;  and 
that,  in  the  meantime,  the  king  shall  have  the  profits  of  such  benefices, 
so  occupied  by  such  provisors,  except  abbeys,  priories,  and  other  houses, 


APPENDIX.  339 

which  have  colleges,  or  convents,  and,  in  such  houses,  the  colleges  and 
convents  shall  have  the  profits ;  saving  always  to  our  lord  the  king,  and 
to  all  other  lords,  their  old  right.  And  this  statute  shall  have  place,  as 
well  of  reservations,  collations,  and  provisions,  made  and  granted  in 
times  past  against  all  them,  which  have  not  yet  obtained  corporal  pos 
session  of  the  benefices,  granted  to  them  by  the  same  reservations,  col 
lations,  and  provisions,  as  against  all  other,  in  time  to  come.  And  this 
statute  ought  to  hold  place,  and  to  begin  at  the  said  utas. 

No.  VII.— (Referred  to  at  page  143J 

Stat.  27  Ed.  III.  cap.  1. — Premunire  for  suing  in  a  Foreign  Realm, 
or  Impeachment  of  Judgment  given. 

First,  because  it  is  shewed  to  our  lord,  the  king,  by  the  grievous  and 
clamorous  complaints  of  the  great  men  and  commons  aforesaid,  how 
that  divers  of  the  people  be,  and  have  been,  drawn  out  of  the  realm,  to 
answer  of  things,  whereof  the  cognizance  pertaineth  to  the  king's  court; 
and  also,  that  the  judgments,  given  in  the  same  court,  be  impeached  in 
another  court,  in  prejudice  and  disherison  of  our  lord,  the  king,  and  of 
his  crown,  and  of  all  the  people  of  his  said  realm,  and  to  the  undoing 
and  destruction  of  the  common  law  of  the  same  realm,  at  all  times  used : 
Whereupon,  good  deliberation  had  with  the  great  men,  and  other  of 
his  said  council,  it  is  assented,  and  accorded  by  our  lord,  the  king,  and 
the  great  men  and  commons  aforesaid,  that  all  the  people  of  the  king's 
liegeance,  of  what  condition  that  they  be,  which  shall  draw  any  out  of 
the  realm,  in  plea,  whereof  the  cognizance  pertaineth  to  the  king's 
court,  or  of  things  whereof  judgments  be  given  in  the  king's  court,  or 
which  do  sue  in  any  other  court,  to  defeat  or  impeach  the  judgments 
given  in  the  king's  court,  shall  have  a  day,  containing  the  space  of  two 
months,  by  warning  to  be  made  to  them,  in  the  place  where  the  pos 
sessions  be,  which  be  in  debate,  or  otherwise,  where  they  have  lands  or 
other  possessions,  by  the  sheriffs,  or  other  the  king's  ministers,  to  ap 
pear  before  the  king  and  his  council,  or  in  his  chancery,  or  before  the 
king's  justices,  in  his  places,  of  the  one  bench  or  the  other,  or  before 
other  the  king's  justices,  which  to  the  same  shall  be  deputed,  to  answer 
in  their  proper  persons  to  the  king,  of  the  contempt  done  in  this  behalf. 
And  if  they  come  not,  at  the  said  day,  in  their  proper  person,  to  be  at 
the  law,  they,  their  procurators,  attorneys,  executors,  notaries,  and  main- 
tainers,  shall,  from  that  day  forth,  be  put  out  of  the  king's  protection, 
and  their  lands,  goods,  and  chattels  forfeit  to  the  king,  and  their  bodies, 
wheresoever  they  may  be  found,  shall  be  taken,  and  imprisoned,  and 
ransomed,  at  the  king'*  will.  And,  upon  the  same,  a  writ  shall  be  made, 

Z2 


340  APPENDIX. 

to  take  them  by  their  bodies,  and  to  seize  their  lands,  goods,  and  pos 
sessions,  into  the  king's  hands :  and  if  it  be  returned,  that  they  be  not 
found,  they  shall  be  put  in  exigent,  and  outlawed. 

II.  Provided  always,  that,  at  what  time  they  come,  before  they  be 
outlawed,  and  will  yield  them  to  the  king's  prison,  to  be  justified  by  the 
law,  and  to  receive  that  which  the  court  shall  award  in  this  behalf,  that 
they  shall  be  thereto  received  :  the  forfeiture  of  the  lands,  goods,  and 
chattels  abiding  in  their  force,  if  they  do  not  yield  them  within  the  said 
two  months,  as  afore  is  said. 

No.  VIII— (Referred  to  at  page  151.; 

Stat.  13  Ric.  II.  cap.  2. — Jl  Confirmation  of  the  Statute  of  Provisors 
made  25  Edward  III.,  and  the  Forfeiture  of  him  that  accepteth  a 
Benefice  contrary  to  that  Statute. 

After  confirming  the  statute  25  Edward  III.,  it  thus  proceeds: 
And  if  any  do  accept  of  a  benefice  of  holy  church  contrary  to  this 
statute,  and  that  duly  proved,  and  be  beyond  sea,  he  shall  abide  exiled, 
and  banished  out  of  the  realm  for  ever,  his  lands  and  tenements,  goods 
and  chattels,  shall  be  forfeit  to  the  king ;  and,  if  he  be  within  the  realm, 
he  shall  be  also  exiled,  and  banished,  as  afore  is  said,  and  shall  incur 
the  same  forfeiture,  and  take  his  way,  so  that  he  be  out  of  the  realm 
within  six  weeks  next  after  such  acceptance.  And  if  any  receive  any 
such  person  banished,  coming  from  beyond  the  sea,  or  being  within  the 
realm  after  the  said  six  weeks,  knowing  thereof,  he  shall  be  also  exiled, 
and  banished,  and  incur  such  forfeiture  as  afore  is  said;  and  that 
their  procurators,  notaries,  executors,  and  summoners,  have  the  pain, 
and  forfeiture  aforesaid.  *  *  #  * 

Provided,  nevertheless,  that  all  they,  to  whom  the  pope  of  Rome,  or 
his  predecessors,  have  provided  any  archbishopric,  bishopric,  or  other 
dignity,  or  other  benefices  of  holy  church,  of  the  patronage  of  people 
of  holy  church,  in  respect  of  any  voidance  before  the  29th  day  of  Jan 
uary,  the  thirteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  our  lord,  king  Richard,  that 
now  is,  and  thereof  were  in  actual  possession  before  the  same  29th  day, 
shall  have  and  enjoy  the  said  archbishoprics,  bishoprics,  dignities  and 
other  benefices  peaceably,  for  their  lives,  notwithstanding  the  statutes 
and  ordinances  aforesaid.  And  if  the  king  send  by  letter,  or  in  other 
manner,  to  the  court  of  Rome,  at  the  entreaty  of  any  person,  or  if  any 
other  send  or  sue  to  the  same  court,  whereby  any  thing  is  done  contrary 
to  this  statute,  touching  any  archbishopric,  bishopric,  dignity,  or  other 
benefice  of  holy  church,  within  the  said  realm,  if  he  that  maketh  such 
motion  or  suit  be  a  prelate  of  holy  church,  he  shall  pay  to  the  king  the 
value  of  his  temporalities  of  one  year ;  and  if  he  be  a  temporal  lord,  he 


APPENDIX.  341 

shall  pay  to  the  king  the  value  of  his  lands  and  possessions  not  raove^ 
able  of  one  year ;  and  if  he  be  another  person,  of  a  more  mean  estate, 
he  shall  pay  to  the  king  the  value  of  the  benefice  for  which  suit  is  made, 
and  shall  be  imprisoned  one  year. . .  .Provided  always,  that  of  no  dig 
nity  or  benefice,  which  was  full  the  said  29th  day  of  January,  no  man,> 
because  of  any  collation,  gifts,  reservation  and  provision,  or  other  grace 
papal,  not  executed  before  the  said  29th  day,  shall  not  sue  thereof  exe 
cution,  upon  the  pains  and  forfeitures  contained  in  this  present  statute* 

Cap.  3. — Penalty  for  bringing,  or  executing,  a  summons  or  excommuni 
cation  against  any  person,  on  the  statute  of  proviso rs. 

Item,  it  is  ordained,  and  established,  that,  if  any  man  bring  or  send 
within  the  realm,  or  the  king's  power,  any  summons,  sentence,  or  ex 
communication,  against  any  person,  of  what  condition  that  he  be,  for 
the  cause  of  making  motion,  assent,  or  execution  of  the  said  statute  of 
provisors,  he  shall  be  taken,  arrested,  and  put  in  prison,  and  forfeit  all 
his  lands  and  tenements,  goods  and  chattels,  for  ever,  and  incur  the  pain 
of  life  and  member.  And  if  any  prelate  make  execution  of  such  sum 
mons,  sentences,  or  excommunications,  that  his  temporalities  be  taken, 
and  abide  in  the  king's  hands,  till  due  redress  and  correction  be  thereof 
made.  And  if  any  person  of  less  estate  than  a  prelate,  of  what  condi 
tion  that  he  be,  make  such  execution,  he  shall  be  taken,  arrested,  and 
put  in  prison,  and  have  imprisonment,  and  make  fine  and  ransom,  by 
the  discretion  of  the  king's  council. 

No.  IX.— (Referred  to  at  page  152.J 

Stat.  16  Ric.  II.  cap.  5. — Premunire  for  purchasing  of  Bulls  from  Rome. 
Whereas  the  commons  of  the  realm,  in  this  present  parliament,  have 
shewed  to  our  redoubted  lord,  the  king,  grievously  complaining,  that, 
whereas  the  said  our  lord,  the  king,  and  all  his  liege  people,  ought  of 
right,  and  of  old  time  were  wont,  to  sue  in  the  king's  court,  to  recover 
their  presentments  to  churches,  prebends,  and  other  benefices  of  holy 
church,  to  the  which  they  had  right  to  present,  the  cognizance  of  plea 
of  which  presentment  belongeth  only  to  the  king's  court,  of  the  old 
right  of  his  crown,  used,  and  approved  in  the  time  of  all  his  progeni 
tors,  kings  of  England  ;  and  when  judgment  shall  be  given  in  the  same 
court,  upon  such  a  plea  and  presentment,  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and 
other  spiritual  persons,  which  have  institution  of  such  benefices  within 
their  jurisdiction,  be  bound,  and  have  made  execution  of  such  judg 
ments,  by  the  king's  commandments,  of  all  the  time  aforesaid,  without 
interruption  (for  another  lay  person  cannot  make  such  execution),  and 
also  be  bound  of  right  to  make  execution  of  many  other  of  the  king's 


342  APPENDIX. 

commandments,  of  which  right  the  crown  of  England  hath  been  peace 
ably  seized,  as  well  in  the  time  of  our  said  lord,  the  king  that  now  is, 
as  in  the  time  of  all  his  progenitors  till  this  day ;  but  now  of  late  di 
verse  processes  be  made  by  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  censures  of  ex 
communication  upon  certain  bishops  of  England,  because  they  have 
made  execution  of  such  commandments,  to  the  open  disherison  of  the 
said  crown,  and  destruction  of  our  said  lord,  the  king,  his  law,  and  all 
his  realm,  if  remedy  be  not  provided :  and  also  it  is  said,  and  a  common 
clamour  is  made,  that  the  said  bishop  of  Rome  hath  ordained,  and  pur 
posed  to  translate  some  prelates  of  the  same  realm,  some  out  of  the 
realm,  and  some  from  one  bishopric  into  another,  within  the  same 
realm,  without  the  king's  assent  and  knowledge,  and  without  the  assent 
of  the  prelates  which  so  shall  be  translated,  which  prelates  be  much 
profitable,  and  necessary  to  our  said  lord,  the  king,  and  to  all  his  realm ; 
by  which  translations  (if  they  should  be  suffered)  the  statutes  of  this 
realm  should  be  defeated,  and  made  void,  and  his  said  liege  sages  of  his 
council,  without  his  assent,  and  against  his  will,  carried  away,  and 
gotten  out  of  his  realm,  and  the  substance,  and  treasure  of  the  realm 
shall  be  carried  away,  and  so  the  realm  destitute  as  well  of  counsel,  as 
of  substance,  to  the  final  destruction  of  the  same  realm :  and  so  the 
crown  of  England,  which  hath  been  so  free  at  all  times,  that  it  hath 
been  in  no  earthly  subjection,  but  immediately  subject  to  God,  in  all 
things  touching  the  regality  of  the  same  crown,  and  to  none  other, 
should  be  submitted  to  the  pope,  and  the  laws,  and  statutes  of  the  realm 
by  him  defeated,  and  avoided  at  his  will,  in  perpetual  destruction  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  king,  our  lord,  his  crown,  his  regality,  and  of  all  his 
realm ;  which  God  defend. 

And  moreover,  the  commons  aforesaid  say,  that  the  said  things,  so 
attempted,  be  clearly  against  the  king's  crown,  and  his  regality,  used 
and  approved  of,  the  time  of  all  his  progenitors :  wherefore  they,  and  all 
the  liege  commons  of  the  same  realm,  will  stand  with  our  said  lord,  the 
king,  and  his  said  crown,  and  his  regality,  in  the  cases  aforesaid,  and  in 
all  other  cases  attempted  against  him,  his  crown,  and  his  regality,  in  all 
points,  to  live,  and  to  die.  And,  moreover,  they  pray  the  king,  and  him 
require,  by  way  of  justice,  that  he  would  examine  all  the  lords  in  the 
parliament,  as  well  spiritual,  as  temporal,  severally,  and  all  the  states  of 
the  parliament,  how  they  think  of  the  cases  aforesaid,  which  be  so 
openly  against  the  king's  crown,  and  in  derogation  of  his  regality,  and 
how  they  will  stand  in  the  same  cases  with  our  lord  the  king,  in  uphold 
ing  the  rights  of  the  said  crown,  and  regality.  Whereupon,  the  lords 
temporal,  so  demanded,  have  answered,  every  one  by  himself,  that  the 
cases  aforesaid  be  clearly  in  derogation  of  the  king's  crown,  and  of  his 


APPENDIX.  343 

regality,  as  it  is  well  known,  and  hath  been  of  a  long  time  known,  and 
that  they  will  be  with  the  same  crown,  and  regality,  in  these  cases  speci 
ally,  and  in  all  other  cases  which  shall  be  attempted  against  the  same 
crown,  and  regality,  in  all  points  with  all  their  power.  And,  moreover, 
it  was  demanded  of  the  lords  spiritual,  there  being,  and  the  procurators 
of  others,  being  absent,  their  advice,  and  will,  in  all  these  cases ;  which 
lords,  that  is  to  say,  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  prelates,  being 
in  the  said  parliament  severally  examined,  making  protestations  that  it 
is  not  their  mind  to  deny,  nor  affirm,  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  may  not 
excommunicate  bishops,  nor  that  he  may  make  translation  of  prelates, 
after  the  law  of  holy  church,  answered,  and  said,  that,  if  any  executions 
of  processes,  made  in  the  king's  court  (as  before),  be  made  by  any,  and 
censures  of  excommunication  to  be  made  against  any  bishops  of  Eng 
land,  or  any  other  of  the  king's  liege  people,  for  that  they  have  made 
execution  of  such  commandments ;  and  that,  if  any  executions  of  such 
translations  be  made  of  any  prelates  of  the  same  realm,  which  prelates 
be  very  profitable,  and  necessary  to  our  said  lord,  the  king,  and  to  his 
said  realm,  or  that  the  sage  people  of  his  council,  without  his  assent, 
and  against  his  will,  be  removed,  and  carried  out  of  the  realm,  so  that 
the  substance  and  treasure  of  the  realm  may  be  consumed,  that  the  same 
is  against  the  king  and  his  crown,  as  it  is  contained  in  the  petition 
before  named.  And  likewise  the  same  procurators,  every  one  by  him 
self  examined  upon  the  said  matters,  have  answered  and  said  in  the 
name,  and  for  their  lords,  as  the  said  bishops  have  said  and  answered ; 
and  that  the  said  lords  spiritual  will,  and  ought  to  be  with  the  king 
in  these  cases,  in  lawfully  maintaining  of  his  crown,  and  in  all  other 
cases  touching  his  crown,  and  his  regality,  as  they  be  bound  by  their 
liegeance.  Whereupon  our  said  lord,  the  king,  by  the  assent  afore 
said,  and  at  the  request  of  his  said  commons,  hath  ordained  and  estab 
lished,  that,  if  any  purchase  or  pursue,  or  cause  to  be  purchased, 
or  pursued,  in  the  court  of  Rome,  or  elsewhere,  by  any  such 
translations,  processes,  and  sentences  of  excommunications,  bulls,  in 
struments,  or  any  other  things  whatsoever,  which  touch  the  king,  against 
him,  his  crown,  and  his  regality,  or  his  realm,  as  is  aforesaid,  and  they 
which  bring  within  the  realm,  or  them  receive,  or  make  thereof  notifi 
cation  or  any  other  execution  whatsoever,  within  the  same  realm,  or 
without,  that  they,  their  notaries,  procurators,  maintainers,  abettors, 
fautors,  and  counsellors,  shall  be  put  out  of  the  king's  protection,  and 
their  lands,  and  tenements,  goods,  and  chattels,  forfeit  to  our  lord  the 
king ;  and  that  they  be  attached  by  their  bodies,  if  they  may  be  found, 
and  brought  before  the  king,  and  his  council,  there  to  answer  to  the 
cases  aforesaid :  or  that  process  be  made  against  them  by  prcemunire 


344  APPENDIX. 

facias,  in  manner  as  it  is  ordained  in  other  statutes  of  provisors :  and 
other  which  do  sue  in  any  court  in  derogation  of  the  regality  of  our 
lord  the  king. 

No.  X.—  (Referred  to  at  page  152.) 

A  letter  from  Martin  V.  to  John,  duke  of  Bedford,  complaining  of  the 
violence  lately  offered  to  the  papal  legate.     Anno  1429. 

[Fuller,  Ch.  Hist.  148]. 

[This  letter  will  show  in  what  manner  the  contest  was  still  carried  on,  so  late 
as  the  year  1429.— 7'.] 

Martinus  episcopus  servus  servorum  Dei,  dilecto  filio  nobili  viro  Jo- 
hanni  duci  Bedford  salutem  et  apostolicam  benedictionem.  Quamvis 
dudum  in  regno  Angliae  jurisdictio  Romanse  ecclesise,  et  libertas  eccle- 
siastica  fuerit  oppressa  rigore  illius  execrabilis  statuti,  quod  omni  di- 
vinae  et  humanae  rationi  contrarium  est;  tamen  non  fuit  ad  tantam 
violentiam  prolapsum,  ut  in  sedis  apostolicae  nuntios,  et  legates,  manus 
temere  mitterentur  sicut  novissime  factum  est,  in  persona  dilecti  filii 
Johannis  de  Oisis,  palatii  apostolici  causarum  auditoris,  et  in  praefato 
regno  nuntii,  et  collectoris  nostri,  quern  audivimus,  ex  hac  sola  causa, 
quod  literas  apostolicas  nostro  nomine  praesentabat,  fuisse  per  aliquos  de 
ipso  regno  carceribus  mancipatum.  Quae  injuria  iiobis.  et  apostolicae 
sedi  illata,  animum  nostrum  affecit  admiratione,  turbatione,  et  molestia 
singulari.  Miramur  enim,  stupescimus,  et  dolemus,  quod  tarn  foedum 
et  turpe  facinus  in  illo  regno  commissum  sit  contra  sedem  beati  Petri, 
et  nuntios  ejus,  presertim  cum  literae  illae  nostrae  nil  aliud  quam  salu 
tem  animarum,  honorem  regni,  et  per  omnia  paternas,  et  sanctas  ad- 
monitiones  continerent.  Fuit  enim  semper,  etiam  apud  gentiles,  qui 
nullam  tenerent  verge  fidei  rationem,  inviolabile  nomen  nuntii,  atque 
legati ;  etiamsi  ab  hostibus  mitterentur,  semper  salvi ;  et  hodie  apud 
Saracenos  et  Turcas,  a  quibus  tuto  destinantur  legationes,  et  literae, 
etiamsi  illis,  ad  quos  deferuntur,  molestae  sint,  et  injuriosae.  Et  nun- 
tius  noster,  vir  humanus,  et  moderatus,  et  continua  conversatione  notis- 
simus,  in  regno  Angliee,  quod  devotione,  et  cultu  divino,  se  jactat 
omnes  alias  Christianas  nationes  superare,  turpitur  captus  est,  nihil  im- 
pium,  nee  hostile  deferens,  sed  literas  salutares  et  justas.  Sed  reve- 
reantur  aliquando  illi,  qui  sic  contumaciter  et  superbe  ecclesiam  Dei 
contemnunt,  et  sedis  apostolicae  authoritatem,  ne  super  istos  eveniat 
justa  punitio  ex  Christi  judicio,  qui  earn  instituit  et  fundavit.  Caveant, 
ne  tot  cumulatis  offensis  Deum  irritent  ad  ultionem,  et  tarditatem  sup- 
pliciii  gravitate  coinpensent.  Non  videbatur  eis  satis  offendisse  Deum, 
statuta  condendo  contra  vicarium  ejus,  contra  ecclesiam,  et  ecclesiae 
caput,  nisi,  pertinaciter  perseverantes  in  malo  proposito,  in  nuntium 
apostolicum  violentas  manus  injicerent?  Quod  non  dubitamus  tuae 


APPENDIX.  345 

excellentise,  quee  ecclesiae  et  regni  honorem  diligit,  displicere  ;  et  certi 
sumus,  quod,  si  fuisses  in  Anglia,  pro  tua  naturali  prudentia,  et  pro 
fide,  et  devotione  quam  geris  erga  nos,  et  ecclesiam  Dei,  illos  incurrere 
in  hunc  furorem  nullatenus  permisisses.  Verum  cum  non  solum  ipsis 
qui  hoc  fecerunt,  sed  toti  regno,  magna  acciderit  ignominia,  et  dietim, 
si  perseverabit  in  errore,  accessura  sit  major,  generositatem  tuam,  in 
qua  valde  confidimus,  exhortamur,  et  affectuose  rogamus,  ut  circa  haec 
provideas  prout  sapientiae  tuae  videbitur,  honori  nostro,  et  ecclesiae,  ac 
saluti  regni  convenire.  Datum  Romae,  apud  SS.  Apostolos,  6  calend. 
Junii,  Pontif.  nostri  an.  12  (1429). 

No.  XL— (Referred  to  at  page  157.) 
Stat.  2  Henry  IV.  cap.  15.—  Abridged. 

The  catholic  faith,  and  the  holy  church  amongst  all  the  kingdoms  in 
the  world,  hath  been  most  devoutly  observed  in  England,  and  endowed, 
which  hath  not  been  troubled  with  heresy,  and  therefore  none  shall 
preach  without  the  license  of  the  diocesan  of  the  same  place :  none 
shall  preach,  or  write  any  book  contrary  to  the  catholic  faith,  or  the  de 
termination  of  the  holy  church:  none  shall  make  any  conventicles  of 
such  sects,  and  wicked  doctrine,  nor  shall  favour  such  preacher.  Every 
ordinary  may  convent  before  him,  and  imprison  any  person  suspected 
of  heresy  :  an  obstinate  heretic  shall  be  burned  before  the  people. 

No.  XII.— (Referred  to  at  page  172.) 

The  oath  formerly  taken  by  Bishops,  fyc.,  at  the  time  of  their 

consecration. 
[Rymer,  xiii.  256.] 

Ego  N.  electus  N.  ab  hac  hora  in  antea,  fidelis  et  obediens  ero  beato 
Petro,  sanctaeque  apostolicae  Romanae  ecclesiae,  et  domino  nostro  do 
mino  N.  papae,  ac  ejus  successoribus  canonice  intrantibus  ;  non  ero  in 
consilio,  consensu,  tractatu,  vel  facto,  ut  vitam  perdant,  aut  membrum, 
aut  in  eos  violenter  manus  quomodolibet  ingerantur,  vel  injuriae  aliquae 
inferantur,  quovis  quaesito  colore.  Consilium  vero  quod  mihi  credituri 
sunt,  per  se,  aut  nuntios,  seu  literas,  ad  eorum  damnum,  me  sciente, 
nemini  pandam ;  papatum  Romanum,  et  regalia  sancti  Petri  adjutor 
eis  ero  ad  retinendum  et  defendendum  contra  omnem  hominem.  Le- 
gatum  apostolicae  sedis,  in  eundo  et  redeundo,  honorifice  tractabo,  et 
in  suis  necessitatibus  adjuvabo.  Jura,  honores,  privilegia,  et  auctori- 
tatem  Romanae  ecclesiae,  domini  nostri  papse,  et  successorum  praedic- 
torum  conservare,  defendere,  augere,  et  promovere  curabo ;  nee  ero  in 
consilio,  in  facto,  seu  in  tractatu,  in  quibus  contra  ipsum  dominum 
nostrum,  vel  eandem  Romanam  ecclesiam,  aliqua  sinistra  vel  praejudi- 


346  APPENDIX. 

cialia  personarum,  juris,  honoris,  status,  et  potestatis  eorum  machinen- 
tur  :  et  si  talia  a  quibuscumque  tractari  novero  vel  procurari,  impediam 
hoc  pro  posse,  et  quantocius  potero  commode  significabo  eidem  domino 
nostro,  vel  alteri,  per  quern  ad  ipsius  notitiam  pervenire  possit.  Regulas 
sanctorum  patrum,  decreta,  ordinationes,  dispositiones,  reservationes, 
sententias,  promissiones,  et  mandata  apostolica  totis  viribus  observabo, 
et  faciamabaliisobservari:  haereticos,  schismaticos,  et  rebelles  domino 
nostro,  vel  successoribus  praedictis,  pro  posse  persequar  et  impugnabo; 
vocatus  ad  synodum  veniam,  nisi  praepeditus  fuero  canonica  praepedi- 
tione.  Apostolorum  limina,  Romana  curia  existente  citra,  singulis 
annis,  ultra  vero  montes,  singulis  bienniis,  visitabo  per  me,  aut  per 
meum  nuntium,  nisi  apostolica  absolvar  licentia.  Possessiones  vero  ad 
mensam  meam  pertinentes  non  vendam,  neque  donabo,  neque  impigno- 
rabo,  neque  de  novo  infeudabo,  vel  aliquo  modo  alienabo,  etiam  cum 
consensu  capituli  ecclesiae  meae,  inconsulto  Romano  pontifice.  Sic  me 
Deus  adjuvet,  et  haec  sancta  Dei  evangelia. 

No.  XIIL— (Referred  to  at  page  172J 
The  Bull,  conferring  the  Title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith  on  Henry  VI II. 

[Rymer,  xiii.  756.] 

Leo  Episcopus,  servus  servorum  Dei,  charissimo  in  Christo  filio, 
Henrico  Angliae  regi,  Fidei  Defensori,  salutem  et  apostolicam  benedic- 
tionem.  Ex  supernae  dispositionis  arbitrio,  licet  imparibus  meritis, 
universalis  ecclesiae  regimini  praesidentes,  ad  hoc  cordis  npstri  longe 
lateque  diffundimus  cogitatus,  ut  fides  catholica,  sine  qua  nemo  pro- 
ficit  ad  salutem,  continuum  suscipiat  incrementum ;  et  ut  ea,  quae  pro 
cohibendis  conatibus  illam  deprimere,  aut  pravis  mendacibusque  com- 
mentis  pervertere  et  denigrare  molientium,  sana  Christi  fidelium,  pras- 
sertim  dignitate  regali  fulgentium,  doctrina  sunt  disposita,  continuis 
proficiant  incrementis,  partes  nostri  ministerii  et  operam  impendimus 
efficaces.  Et  sicut  alii  Romani  pontifices,  praedecessores  nostri,  catho- 
licos  principes  (prout  rerum  et  temporum  qualitas  exigebat)  specialibus 
favoribus  prosequi  consueverunt,  illos  prsesertim,  qui  procellosis  tempo- 
ribus,  et  rabida  schismaticorum  et  haereticorum  fervente  perfidia,  non 
solum  in  fidei  serenitate  et  devotione  illibata  sacrosanctae  Romanae 
ecclesiae  immobiles  perstiterunt,  verum  etiam  tanquam  ipsius  ecclesiae 
legitimi  filii,  ac  fortissimi  athletae,  schismaticorum  et  haereticorum  in- 
sanis  furoribus  spiritualiter  et  temporaliter  se  opposuerunt ;  ita  etiam 
nos  majestatem  tuam,  propter  excelsa  et  immortalia  ejus  erga  nos  et 
hanc  sanctam  sedem,  in  qua,  perrnissione  divina,  sedemus,  opera  et 
gesta,  condign  is  et  immortalibus  praeconiis  et  laudibus  efferre  deside- 
ramus,  ac  ea  sibi  concedere,  propter  quae  invigilare  debeat  a  grege 


APPENDIX.  347 

Dominico  lupos  arcere,  et  putida  membra,  quse  mysticum  Christ!  corpus 
inficiunt,  ferro  et  material!  gladio  abscindere,  et  nutantium  corda  fide- 
lium  in  fide!  soliditate  confirmare. 

Sane  cum  nuper  dilectus  filius,  Johannes  Clerk,  majestatis  tuae  apud 
nos  orator,  in  consistorio  nostro,  coram  venerabilibus  fratribus  nostris, 
sanctae  Romanae  ecclesiae  cardinalibus,  et  compluribus  aliis  Romanes 
curiae  praelatis,  librum,  quern  majestas  tua,  charitate,  quae  omnia  sedulo- 
et  nihil  perperam  agit,  fideique  catholicae  zelo  accensa,  ac  devotionis 
erga  nos  et  hanc  sanctam  sedem  fervore  inflammata,  contra  errores  di- 
versorum  haereticorum,  saepius  ab  hac  sancta  sede  damnatos,  nuperque 
per  Martinum  Lutherum  suscitatos  et  innovates,  tanquam  nobile  et 
salutare  quoddam  antidotum,  composuit,  nobis  examinandum,  et  deinde 
auctoritate  nostra  approbandum,  obtulisset,  ac  luculenta  oratione  sua 
exposuisset  majestatem  tuam  paratam  ac  dispositam  esse,  ut,  quemad- 
modum  veris  rationibus  ac  irrefragabilibus  sacrae  scripturae  et  sancto 
rum  patrum  auctoritatibus  notorios  errores  ejusdem  Martini  confuta- 
verat,  ita  etiam  omnes  eos  sequi  et  defensare  praesumentes  totius  regni 
sui  viribus  et  armis  persequatur ;  nosque  ejus  libri  admirabilem  quan- 
dam  et  caelestis  gratiae  rore  conspersam  doctrinam  diligenter  accura- 
teque  introspexinms,  Omnipotenti  Deo,  a  quo  omne  datum  optimum 
et  omne  donum  perfectum  est,  immensas  gratias  egimus,  qui  optimam 
et  ad  omne  bonum  inclinatam  mentem  tuam  inspirare,  eique  tantam 
gratiam  supernc  infundere  dignatus  fuit,  ut  ea  scriberes  quibus  sanctam 
ejus  fidem  contra  novum  errorum  damnatorum  hujusmodi  suscitatorem 
defenderes,  ac  reliquos  reges  et  principes  christianos  tuo  exemplo  invi- 
tares,  ut  ipsi  etiam  orthodoxse  fidei  et  evangelicae  veritati,  in  pericu- 
lum  et  discrimen  adductae,  omni  ope  sua  adesse  opportuneque  favere 
vellent.  ^quum  autem  esse  censentes  eos,  qui  pro  fidei  Christi  hujus 
modi  defensione  pios  labores  susceperunt,  omni  laude  et  honore  afficere, 
volentesque  non  solum  ea,  quae  majestas  tua  contra  eundem  Martinum 
Lutherum  absolutissima  doctrina  nee  minori  eloquentia  scripsit,  con- 
dignis  laudibus  extollere  ac  magnih'care,  auctoritateque  nostra  appro- 
bare  et  confirmare,  sed  etiam  majestatem  ipsam  tali  honore  et  titulo 
decorare,  ut  nostris  ac  perpetuis  futuris  temporibus  Christi  fideles  omnes 
intelligant  quam  gratum  acceptumque  nobis  fuerit  majestatis  tuae  munus, 
hoc  praesertim  tempore  nobis  oblatum;  Nos,  qui  Petri,  quern  Christus, 
in  ccelum  ascensurus,  vicarium  suum  in  terris  reliquit,  et  cui  curam 
gregis  sui  commisit,  veri  successores  sumus,  et  in  hac  sancta  sede,  a 
qua  omnes  dignitates  ac  tituli  emanant,  sedemus,  habita  super  iis  cum 
eisdem  fratribus  nostris  matura  deliberatione,  de  eorum  unanimi  con- 
silio  et  assensu,  majestati  tuae  Titulum  hunc,  videlicet,  FIDEI  DEFEN- 
SOREM,  donare  decrevimus,  prout  te  tali  Titulo  per  praesentes  insig- 


348  APPENDIX. 

nimus ;  mandantes  omnibus  Christi  fidelibus  ut  majestatem  tuam  hoc 
Titulo  nominent,  et,  cum  ad  earn  scribent,  post  dictionem  REGI  adjun- 
gant  FIDEI  DEFENSORI. 

Et  profecto,  hujus  tituli  excellentia  et  dignitate  ac  singularibus  meritis 
tuis  diligenter  perpensis  et  consideratis,  nullum  neque  dignius,  neque 
majestati  tuae  convenientius  nomen  excogitare  potuissemus,  quod  quo- 
tiens  audies  aut  leges,  totiens  propriae   virtutis  optimique  merit!  tui. 
recordaberis :  nee  hujusmodi  titulo  intumesces,  vel  in  superbiam  eleva- 
beris,  sed  solita  tua  prudentia  humilior,  et  in  fide  Christi  ac  devotione 
hujus  sanctae  sedis,  a  qua  exaltatus  fueris,  fortior  et  constantior  evades, 
ac  in  Domino,  bonorum  omnium  largitore,  Isetaberis  perpetuum  hoc  et 
immortale  gloriae  tuae  monumentum  posteris  tuis  relinquere,   illisque 
viam  ostendere,  ut,  si  tali  titulo  ipsi  quoque  insigniri  optabunt,  talia 
etiam  opera  efficere,  prseclaraque  majestatis  tuae  vestigia  sequi  studeant ; 
quam,  prout  de  nobis  et  dicta  sede  optime  merita  est,  una  cum  uxore  et 
filiis,  ac  omnibus  qui  a  te  et  ab  illis  nascentur,  nostra  benedictione,  in 
nomine  illius,  a  quo  illam  concedendi  potestas  nobis  data  est,  larga  et 
liberali  manu  benedicentes,  altissimum  ilium,  qui  dixit,  "  per  me  reges 
regnant  et  principes  imperant,  et  in  cujus  manu  corda  sunt  regum," 
rogamus  et  obsecramus,  ut  earn  in  suo  sancto  proposito   confirmet, 
ejusque  devotionem  multiplicet,  ac  praeelaris  pro  sancta  fide  gestis  ita 
illustret,  ac  toti  orbi  terrarum  conspicuam  reddat,  ut  judicium,  quod  de 
ipsa  fecimus.  earn  tarn  insigni  titulo  decorantes,  a  nemine  falsum  aut 
vanum  judicari  possit ;    demum  mortalis  hujus  vita?  finito  curriculo, 
sempiternal  illius   glorias    consortem   atque   participem   reddat.     Dat. 
Romae  apud  S.  Petrum,  anno  incarnationis  Dominicae  millesimo  quin- 
gentesimo  vigesimo  primo,  quinto   idus  Octobris,  pontificatus  nostri 
anno  nono. 

No.  XIV.— (Referred  to  at  page  180). 

[The  following  letters,  which  are  preserved  in  the  Vatican,  have  been 
printed  by  Hearne,  in  his  edition  of  Avesbury ;  by  Osborne,  in  the 
third  volume  of  the  Harleian  Miscellany,  and  by  the  editors  of  the 
Pamphleteer,  vol.  xxi.  xxii.  From  their  connexion  with  the  subject,  I 
venture  to  insert  them  here.  Perhaps  the  reader  will  bear  in  mind, 
that,  at  the  very  moment  when  Henry  was  writing  the  eleventh,  twelfth, 
and  thirteenth,  to  his  "  awn  darling,"  Anne,  he  was  actually  shrinking 
from  the  terrors  of  a  surrounding  pestilence :  that,  according  to  the 
account  left  us  by  the  bishop  of  Bayonne,  he  was  devoting  himself  ap 
parently  to  the  society  of  his  queen,  was  accompanying  her  in  all  her. 
private  exercises  of  religion,  was  confessing  himself  every  day,  and  was 
receiving  the  sacrament  every  Sunday  and  festival !  (Apud  le  Grand, 


APPENDIX.  349 

iii.  137,  14-9, 152).  Deceived  by  these  appearances,  the  bishop  at  once 
concluded,  that  the  absence  of  Anne  from  court,  at  this  time,  would 
cure  the  infatuation  of  her  lover :  could  he  have  seen  the  monarch's 
secret  correspondence,  he  would  scarcely  have  indulged  the  anticipation. 
"  Je  suis  mauvais  devin,"  says  he  afterwards  ;  "  et  pour  vous  dire  ma 
faintaisie,  je  croy  que  le  roy  en  est  si  avant,  qu'aultre  queDieu  ne  Ten 
scauroit  oster." — Ibid.  164. 

The  dates  of  these  letters  have  been  the  subject  of  considerable  con 
troversy.  What  Osborne,  however,  but  imperfectly  attempted,  Dr. 
Lingard  has  satisfactorily  accomplished.  He  has  established  the  years 
in  which  they  were  written  ;  and,  in  all  the  more  important  instances, 
has  been  able  to  point  out  the  period  of  the  year,  to  which  they  belong 
(Vindication,  104-,  note).  It  is  in  accordance  with  this  chronology,  that 
I  have  here  arranged  them. — 7".] 

Henry  VIII.  to  Anne  Boleyn.— 1527. 

Ma  mastres  et  amye,  moy  et  mon  cceur  s'en  remetent  en  vos  mains, 
vous  suppliant  les  avoir  pour  recommander  a  votre  bonne  grace,  et  que 
par  absens  votre  affection  ne  leur  soit  diminue;  car  pur  augmanter 
leur  peine  ce  seroit  grande  pitie,  car  1'absence  leur  fait  asses,  et  plus  que 
jamais  que  je  n'eusse  pense,  en  nous  faisant  rementevoir  un  point  d'as- 
tronomie,  qui  est  telle ;  tant  plus  loing  que  les  Mores  sont,  tant  plus 
«loigne  est  le  soleil,  et  non  obstant  plus  fervant :  aussi  fait  il  de  nostre 
amour;  car,  par  absence,  nous  sommes  eloignees,  et  neanmoins  elle 
garde  sa  ferveur,  au  moins  de  notre  coste,  ayant  en  espoire  la  pareille 
du  votre.  Vous  assurant,  que,  de  ma  part,  1'annuye  d'absence  deja 
m'est  trop  grande ;  et  quant  je  pense  a  1'augmentation  d'icell^iy,  que 
per  force  faut  que  je  souffre,  il  m'est  presque  intolerable,  si  n'estoit  la 
ferme  espoire,  que  j'aye  de  votre  indissoluble  affection  vers  moy :  et 
pur  le  vous  rementevoir  alcune  fois  cela,  et  voyant  que  personellement 
je  ne  puis  estre  en  votre  presence,  chose  la  plus  approchant  a  cella,  qui 
m'est  possible  au  present,  je  vous  envoye,  c'est  a  dire,  ma  picture,  mise 
en  braselettes  a  toute  la  device  que  deja  saves,  me  souhaittant  en  leur 
place,  quant  il  vous  plairoit.  C'est  de  la  main  de 

Votre  serviteur  et  ami, 

H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — 1527. 

A  ma  Maistresse. — Pour  ce  qui  me  semble  le  temp  estre  bein  longe, 
depuis  avoire  ouye  de  votre  bonne  sante  et  de  vous,  la  grande  affec 
tion  que  j'ay  vers  vous  m'a  persuade  de  vous  envoyer  ce  porture,  pour 
estre  mieux  assertene  de  votre  sante  et  volente ;  et  pour  ce  que,  depuis 


350  APPENDIX. 

mon  partement  de  avecque  vous,  on  m'a  averty  que  1'opinion,  en  quoy 
je  vous  laissoye,  est  de  toute  asture  change,  et  que  vous  vtmliez  venir 
en  cour,  ni  avec  madam  votre  mere,  ni  aultrement  aussi;  laquelle 
reporte  estant  vraye,  je  ne  sauroy  asses  emervelliere,  veu  que  depuis  je 
m'assure  de  vous  de  n'avoir  jamais  fait  faute ;  et  il  me  semble  bien  petit 
retribution  pour  le  grand  amour,  que  je  vous  porte,  de  me  eloigner  et 
la  personne  et  le  personage  de  la  fame  du  mond  que  plus  j'estime :  et  si 
vous  m'aymes  de  si  bonne  affectionne,  comme  j'espere,  je  suis  sure  que 
la  eloignement  de  notre  deux  personnes  vous  seroyet  un  peu  en- 
vuyeuse ;  toute  fois  qu'il  n'appartient  pas  tant  a  la  maitresse,  comme  au 
serviteur.  Panses  bien,  ma  mestresse,  que  1'absence  de  vous  fort  me 
grefe ;  esperant  qu'il  n'est  pas  votre  volonte,  que  ainsi  ce  soit ;  mais  si 
je  entendoy  pur  verite,  que  volenterement  vous  la  desiriez,  je  non  pouis 
mieux  faire,  si  non  plaindre  ma  mauvaise  fortune,  en  rebatant  peu  a 
peu  ma  grand  folie :  et  ainsi,  a  fault  de  temps,  fay  fin  de  ma  rude  lettre> 
suppliant  de  donner  foy  a  ce  porteur,  a  ce  qu'il  vous  dira  de  ma  part. 
Escrit  de  la  main  du  tout  votre  serviteur. 

The  same  to  the  same. — 1527. 

En  debatant  da  per  moy  le  contenu  de  vos  lettres,  me  suis  mis  en 
grande  agonie,  non  shachant  commant  les  entendre,  ou  a  mon  desaven- 
tage,  comme  en  des  aucunes  autres  je  les  entende,  vous  suppliant  de 
bien  bon  cceur  me  vouloire  certifiere  appresent  votre  intention   en- 
tiere  touchant  1'amour  entre  nous  deux  ;  car  necessite  me  contraint  de 
pourchaser  cette  responce,  ayant  este  plus  q'ung  anne  attaynte  du  dart 
d'amours,  non  estant  assure  de  faliere,  ou  trouver  place  en  votre  ceur 
et  affection.     Certain  le  q'uel  dernier  point  m'en  a  garde,  depuis  peu 
temps,  en  sa,  de  vous  point  nommer  ma  mestres,  avec  ce,  que  si  vous 
ne  me  aymes  d'autre  sorte,  que  d'amour  commune,  cest  nome  ne  vous 
est  point  appropriee :  car  il  denote  ung  singularis,  le  quel  est  bien 
longue  de  la  commune.     Mais  si  vous  plait  de  faire  1'office  d'une  vraye 
loyale  mestres  et  amye,  et  de  vous  donner  corps  et  cceur  a  moy,  qui 
veus  estre,  et  a  este,  votre  tres  loyal  serviteur  (si  par  rigeur  ne  me  de- 
fendes),  je  vous  promes,  que  non  seulement  le  nom  vous  sera  deu,  mais 
aussi  vous  prendray  pour  ma  mestresse,  en  rebuttant  tretantes  aultres 
aupres  de  vous  hors  de  pense  et  d'affection,  et  de  vous  seulement  ser- 
vire.   Vous  suppliant  me  faire  entiere  responce  de  cette  ma  rude  lettre, 
a  quoy  et  en  quoy  me  puis  fier:  et  si  ne  vous  plait  de  me  fair  response 
per  escrite,  assure  moy  quelque  lieu  la,  ou  je  la  pourroy   avoir  de 
bouche,  et  je  m'y  trouverray  de  bien  bon  cceur.     Non  plus,  de  peur  de 
vous  enuyer.    Escrite  de  la  main  de  celluy,  qui  volontiers  demureroit 
votre  H.  R. 


APPENDIX.  351 

The  same  to  the  same. — 1527. 

Neanmoins  qu'il  n'appartiene  pas  a  ung  gentile  homme  pur  prendre 
sa  dame  au  lieu  de  servante,  toute  fois  en  suivant  vos  desires,  volontiers 
le  vous  outroyeroy,  si  per  cela  vous  puisse  trouver  moins  ingrate  en  la 
place  per  vos  choysie,  que  avez  este  en  la  place  par  moy  donne,  en  vous 
merciant  tres  cordialement,  si  vous  plete  encore  avoire  quelque  sove- 
nance  de  moy.  6.  n.  R.  1.  De  R.  O.  M.  V.  C.  Z.  HENRY  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — 1527. 

De  1'estrene  si  belle,  que  rien  plus  (notant  le  toute)  je  vous  remercy 
tres  cordiallement,  non  seulement  pour  le  beau  diamonde,  et  navire  en 
quoy  la  seullete  damoyselle  et  tormente,  mais  principallement  pour  la 
belle  interpretation,  et  trop  humble  submission,  per  votre  benignite 
en  ceste  case  use :  bien  pensant  qu'a  meriter  cela  per  occasion  me  se- 
roit  fort  difficile,  si  me  n'estoit  en  aide  votre  grande  humanity  et  faveur, 
pour  la  quelle  j'ay  cherche,  cherche,  et  chercheray  par  toutes  bontes 
amoy  possible  d'y  demurer,  en  quelle  mon  espoir  a  mis  son  immuable  in 
tention,  qui  dit,  aut  illic  aut  nullibi. 

Les  demonstrances  de  votre  affection  sont  telles,  les  belles  motts  des 
lettres  si  cordialement  couche,  qui  m'obligent  a  tout  jamais  vrayment  de 
vous  honorer,  aymer,  et  servir,  vous  suppliant  le  vouloir  continuer  en  ce 
mesme  ferme  et  constant  propos,  vous  assurant,  que,  de  ma  part,  je  1'aug- 
menteray  plustot  que  la  fair  reciprocke,  si  loyaute  du  ceur,  desire  de  vous 
complaire,  vous  sans  autre  racine  en  ceur  le  peut  avancer :  vous  priant 
aussi,  que,  si  aucunement  je  vous  aye  per  cy  devant  offence,  que  vous 
me  donnes  la  mesme  absolution  que  vous  demandes,  vous  asseurant,  que 
d'oranevant  a  vous  seule  mon  ceur  sera  dedie,  desirant  fort  que  le  corps 
ainsi  pouvoit,  comme  Dieu  le  peut  fair,  si  luy  plait,  a  qui  je  supplie  une 
fois  le  jeur  pour  ce  fair,  esperant  que  a  la  long  ma  priere  sera  ouye,  de 
sirant  le  temps  bref,  pansant  le  long  jusques  au  reveu  d'entre  nous  deux. 
Escrite  de  la  main  du  secretair,  qui,  en  ceur,  corps,  et  volonte,  est 
Votre  loyal  et  plus  assure  serviture, 


H.  autre   \  A.B.   J  ne  cherce  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — Between  June  29  and  Sept.  13, 1527. 

The  cause  of  my  writing  at  this  time,  good  sweet  heart,  is  wonly  to 
understand  of  your  good  health  and  prosperity,  whereof  to  know,  I 
would  be  as  glad  as  in  manner  mine  awn ;  praying  God  (that  and  it  be 
his  pleasure)  to  send  us  shortly  togyder :  for  I  promise  you  I  long  for 
it ;  howbeit,  trust  it  shall  not  be  long  to.  And  seeing  my  darling  is  ab- 


352  APPENDIX. 

sent,  I  can  no  less  do  than  to  send  her  some  flesh,  representing  my  name, 
which  is  hart's  flesh  for  Henry,  prognosticating,  that  hereafter,  God  will 
ing,  you  must  enjoy  some  of  mine,  which,  if  he  pleased,  I  wold  were 
now.  As  touching  your  sister's  matter,  I  have  caused  Water  Welsh  to 
write  to  my  lord  mine  mind  therein ;  whereby  I  trust,  that  Eve  shall  not 
have  power  to  deceive  Adam :  for  surely,  whatsoever  is  said  cannot  so 
stand  with  his  honour,  but  that  he  must  needs  take  his  natural  daughter 
now  in  her  extream  necessity.  No  more  to  you  at  this  time,  my  awn 
darling,  but  that  with  a  wish  I  would  we  were  togyder  an  evening. 
With  the  hand  of  yours,  H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — Between  June  29  and  Sept.  13,  1527- 

Toute  fois,  ma  mestres,  qu'il  ne  vous  pleu  de  souvenir  de  la  promesse, 
que  vous  me  fites,  quant  je  estoy  dernierement  vers  vous,  c'est  adire,  de 
savoire  de  vos  bonnes  nouvelles,  et  de  savoire  responce  de  ma  dernier 
lettre ;  neanmoins  il  me  semble,  qu'il  appartient  au  vray  serviteur  (voyant 
que  autrement  il  ne  peut  rien  savoir)  d'envoyere  savoire  la  salute  de  sa 
metresse ;  et  pour  me  acquitter  de  1'office  du  vray  serviteur,  je  vous  en- 
voye  cette  lettre,  vous  suppliant,  de  me  avertir  de  votre  prosperite  ;  la 
quelle  je  prie  a  Dieu  qu'il  soit  aussi  long,  comme  je  voudray  la  mienne : 
et,  pour  vous  faire  en  corps  plus  sovant  souvenire  de  moy,  je  vous  envoy 
par  ce  porteur  ung  boucke,  tue  hier  soire  bien  tarde  de  ma  maine,  espe- 
rant  que  quant  vous  en  mangerez,  il  vous  soviendra  du  chasseur.  Et 
ainsi,  a  faute  de  espace,  je  feray  fin  a  ma  lettre,  escrite  de  la  main  de 
votre  serviteur,  qui  bien  souvent  vous  souhaite  au  lieu  de  votre  frere. 

H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — 1527. 

Approchant  du  temps,  qui  m'a  si  longuement  dure,  me  rejoyce  tante, 
que  me  semble  presque  deja  venue ;  neanmoins  1'antiere  accomplisse- 
ment  ne  se  perfera,  tant  que  les  deux  personnes  se  assemblent ;  la  quelle 
assemble  est  plus  desire  en  mon  endroit,  que  nulle  chose  mondain.  Car 
que  rejoyement  peut  estre  si  grand  en  ce  monde,  comme  d'avoir  la  com- 
pagnie  de  celle,  qui  est  la  plus  chere  aymee,  sachant  aussi  quelle  fait  la 
perreylle  de  son  coste  ;  la  pense  du  quel  me  fait  grand  plaisir.  Jugges 
adonque  que  fera  le  personage,  1'absence  du  quel  m'a  fait  plus  grand 
mal  au  ceur,  que  ni  langue  ni  escriture  peuvent  exprimer,  et  que  jamais 
autre  chose,  excepte  cela,  peut  remedier;  vous  suppliant,  ma  mestress, 
de  dire  a  Monsr.  votre  pere  de  ma  part,  que  je  luy  prie  de  avancer  de 
deuxjours  le  temps  assine,  qui  peut  estre  en  court  devant  le  vielle  termes, 
ou,  au  moins,  sur  le  jour  preficse  :  car  autrement,  je  penseray  qu'il  ne 
feroit  point  le  toure  des  amoureus,  qu'il  disoit,  ni  accordant  a  mon  ex- 


APPENDIX.  353 

pectation.  Non  plus  d'asteure,  de  faute  de  temps,  esperant  bien  tote, 
que  de  bouche  vous  diray  le  reste  des  peinnes  per  moy  an  votre  absence 
sustenues.  Escrite  de  la  main  du  secretere,  qui  se  souhaite  d'asteure 
privement  apres  de  vous,  et  qui  est,  et  qui  a  jamais  sera 

Votre  loyal  et  plus  assure  serviteure 


H.  autre  V   A.B.  /   ne  cherche  R, 

V7 

The  same  to  the  same.  —  1527- 

Darling,  I  heartily  recommend  me  to  you,  ascertaining  you,  that  I  am 
not  a  little  perplexed  with  such  things  as  your  brother  shall,  on  my  part 
declare  unto  you,  to  whom  I  pray  you  give  full  credence  ;  for  it  were 
too  long  to  write.  In  my  last  letters,  I  writ  to  you,  that  I  trusted  shortly 
to  see  you,  which  is  better  known  at  London,  then  with  any  that  is 
abought  me,  whereof  I  not  a  little  marvel  :  but  lake  of  discreet  hand 
ling  must  needs  be  the  cause  thereof.  No  more  to  you,  at  this  time, 
but  that  I  trust  shortly  our  meeting  shall  not  depend  upon  other  men's 
light  handlings,  but  upon  your  own.  Writtne  with  the  hand  of  him 
that  longeth  to  be  yours,  H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same.  —  The  end  of  1527,  or  Jan.  1528. 
Mine  awn  sweet  heart,  this  shall  be  to  advertise  you  of  the  great  el- 
lengeness  that  I  find  here,  since  your  departing  :  for  I  ensure  you,  me 
thinketh  the  time  longer  since  your  departing  now  last,  than  I  was  wont 
to  do  a  whole  fortnight.  I  think  your  kindness  and  my  fervence  of  love 
causeth  it  ;  for  otherwise  I  would  not  thought  it  possible,  that  for  so 
little  a  while  it  should  have  grieved  me  ;  but  now  that  I  am  coming 
towards  you,  me  thinketh  my  pains  been  half  released  ;  and  also  I  am 
right  well  comforted,  in  so  much  that  my  book  maketh  substantially  for 
my  matter  :  in  writting  whereof  I  have  spent  above  iv  hours  this  day, 
which  caused  me  now  write  the  shorter  letter  to  you,  at  this  time,  be 
cause  of  some  pain  in  my  head  ;  wishing  myself  (specially  an  evening) 
in  my  sweet  heart's  arms,  whose  pretty  dukkyes  I  trust  shortly  to  cusse. 
Writtne  with  the  hand  of  him  that  was,  is,  and  shalbe  yours  by  his  will, 

H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same.  —  June,  1528. 

L'enuye,  que  je  avoye  du  doubte  de  votre  sante  me  trobla  egarra  bo- 

coup,  et  n'eusse  este  gere  quiete,  sans  avoir  sue  la  certenyte  ;  mais  puis- 

que  n'ancors  n'aves  rien  sentu,  j'espere,  et  me  biens  pour  assure,  il  se 

passera  de  vous,  comme  je  espere,  qu'il  est  de  nous.     Car  nous  estans 

VOL.  I.  A  A 


354  APPENDIX. 

a  Waltham,  deux  ushyres,  deux  verles  de  chambre,  votre  frere,  master 
Tresorere  ont  tombe  malads,  et  sont  d'asteure  de  tout  sains ;  et  depuis 
nous  nous  somms  reboutes  en  votre  mesons  de  Hondson,  la  ou  nous  nous 
sommes  bien  trouvez,  sans  aucune  malade  pour  steure,  Dieu  soit  loue : 
et  je  pense,  que  si  vous  vous  voulez  retirer  du  lieu  du  Surye,  come  nous 
fimes,  vous  le  passeressans  danger.  Et  aussi  ung  autre  chose  vous  peut 
comforter ;  car,  a  la  virite,  comme  il  disit,  peu  ou  nulle  fame  ont  este 
malade,  et  que  encore  plus  est,  null  de  notre  cort,  et  peu  ailieurs  en 
meurit :  pour  quoy  je  vous  supply,  ma  entiere  aymee,  de  non  avoir  point 
de  peure,  ne  de  nostre  absence  vous  trop  anuyere.  Car  ou  que  je  soy, 
votre  suis :  et  non  obstante,  il  faut  alcune  fois  a  telles  fortunes  obeyer; 
car  qui  contre  fortune  veut  luter  en  telle  endroit,  en  bien  sovent  tant 
plus  eloigne ;  par  quoy  recomfortes  vous,  et  soyes  hardy,  et  vuides  le 
mal,  tant  que  vous  poures:  et  fespere  bien  tote  de  vous  fair  chanter  le 
renvoy.  Non  plus  pour  asteure,  de  faute  du  temps,  si  non  que  je  vous 
souhait  entre  mes  bras,  pour  vous  oter  ung  peu  de  vos  deresonable  pen- 
ses.  Escrite  de  la  main  de  celly,  qui  est  et  toujours  sera  votre 

ma  H.  R.  aimable. 

The  same  to  the  same. — June,  1528. 

Since  your  last  letters,  mine  awn  darling,  Walter  Welsh,  master  Brown, 
John  Care,  Yrion  of  Brearton,  John  Cork  thepotecary,  be  fallen  of  the 
swett  in  this  house,  and,  thanked  be  God,  all  well  recovered,  so  that,  as 
yet,  the  plague  is  not  fully  ceased  here ;  but  I  trust  shortly  it  shall.  By 
the  mercy  of  God,  the  rest  of  us  yet  be  well,  and  I  trust  shall  pass  it, 
ather  not  to  have  it,  or,  at  the  least,  as  easily  as  the  rest  have  done.  As 
touching  the  matter  of  Wilton,  my  lord  cardinal  hath  had  the  nuns  before 
him,  and  examined  them,  Mr.  Bell  being  present ;  which  hath  certified 
me,  that  for  a  truth  that  she  hath  confessed  herself  (which  we  would  have 
had  abbesse)  to  have  had  two  children,  by  two  sundry  priests ;  and  fur- 
der,  since  hath  been  kept  by  a  servant  of  the.  lord  Broke  that  was,  and 
that  not  long  ago :  wherefore,  I  would  not,  for  all  the  gold  in  the  world, 
clog  your  conscience  nor  mine,  to  make  her  ruler  of  a  house,  which  is  of 
so  ungudly  a  demeanor,  nor  I  trust  you  would  not  that,  neither  for  bro 
ther  nor  sister,  I  should  so  destain  mine  honor  or  conscience.  And,  as 
touching  the  prioress,  or  dame  Eleanor's  eldest  sister,  though  there  is  not 
any  evident  case  proved  against  them,  and  that  the  prioress  is  so  old,  that, 
of  many  years,  she  could  not  be  as  she  was  named,  yet,  notwithstanding, 
to  do  you  pleasure,  I  have  done  that  neither  of  them  shall  have  it,  but 
that  some  other  good  and  well-disposed  woman  shall  have  it,  whereby  the 
house  shall  be  the  better  reformed  (whereof  I  ensure  you  it  had  much 


APPENDIX.  355 

need),  and  God  much  the  better  served  '  As  touching  abode  at  Hever, 
do  therein  as  best  shall  like  you ;  for  you  know  best  what  air  doth  best 
with  you:  but  I  would  it  were  come  thereto,  if  it  pleased  God,  that 
neither  of  us  need  care  for  that ;  for  I  ensure  you  I  think  it  long.  Suche 
is  fallen  sick  of  the  swett;  and  therefore  I  send  you  this  bearer,  because 
I  think  you  long  to  hear  tidings  from  us,  as  we  do  in  likewise  from  you. 
Writiri  \\ith  the  hand  de  votre  seul,  H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — July,  1528. 

Nouvelles  me  sont  en  nuyt  soudenement  venues  les  plus  deplesantes, 
qui  me  pourroient  avenire  :  car  pour  trois  causes  touchant  icelles  faut 
il  que  je  lamente ;  la  premiere,  pour  entendre  la  maladie  de  ma  mestres, 
la  quelle  je  estime  plus  que  tout  le  monde,  la  sante  du  quelle  je  desire 
autant  comme  la  mienne,  et  vouloye  volontiers  porter  le  moyetie  du 
votre,  pour  vous  avoir  guery ;  la  seconde,  pour  la  crainte,  que  j'ay, 
d'estre  encore  plus  longement  presse  de  mon  ennemy  absens,  qui  jus- 
ques  icy  m'a  fait  toute  1'annuye  a  luy  possible,  et,  quant  encore  puis 
juger  et  deliberer  de  pys  fair,  priant  Dieu  qui  m'en  defasse  de  si  im 
portune  rebelle ;  la  troisieme,  pour  ce  que  le  medecin,  en  qui  plus 
me  fie,  est  absens  asteure,  quant  il  me  pourroit  faire  plus  grand 
plaisir;  car  j'esperoroy  per  luy  et  ses  moyens  de  obtenir  une  de  mes 
principalles  joyes  en  ce  monde,  c'est  a  dire,  ma  mestres  guerie.  Nean- 
moyns,  en  faute  de  luy,  je  vous  envoye  le  second  et  le  tout,  priant  Dieu, 
que  bien  tot  il  vous  peut  rendre  saine ;  et  adunques  je  1'aymeray  plus 
que  jamais,  vous  priant  estre  gouverne  per  ses  avises,  touchant  votre  ma 
ladie  ;  en  quoy  faisant,  j'espere  bien  tot  vous  revoire,  qui  me  sera  plus 
grand  cordial,  que  tout  les  pieres  pretieuses  du  monde.  Escrite  du  se- 
cretair  qui  est,  et  a  jamais  sera  Votre  loyal  et  plus  assure  serviteur, 

H. 


The  same  to  the  same. — September,  1528. 

The  reasonable  request  of  your  last  letter,  with  the  pleasure  I  also 
take  to  know  them  true,  cause  me  to  send  you  now  this  news.  The 
legat,  which  we  most  desire,  arrived  at  Paris,  on  Sunday  or  Munday 
last  past,  so  that  I  trust,  by  the  next  Munday,  to  hear  of  his  arrival  at 
Calais,  and  then  I  trust,  within  a  while  after,  to  enjoy  that,  which  I 
have  so  long  longed  for,  to  God's  pleasure  and  our  both  comforts.  No 

1  In  a  note,  Hearne  remarks,  that,  "  notwithstanding  what  is  said  here  to  the 
contrary,  the  ladies  before  mentioned  seem  to  have  been  persons  of  eminent 
virtue." — Aveshury,  Append,  p.  358. 

A  A  2 


356  APPENDIX. 

more  to  you,  at  this  present,  mine  awn  darling,  for  lack  of  time,  but 
that  I  would  you  were  in  mine  arms,  or  I  in  yours  ;  for  I  think  it  long 
since  I  kyst  you.  Writtne  after  the  killing  of  an  hart,  at  11  of  the 
clock,  minding,  with  God's  grace,  to  morrow  mightily  timely  to  kill 
another.  By  the  hand  of  him,  which  I  trust  shortly  shall  be  yours, 

HENRY  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — Between  September!,  and  December  1,  1528. 
Darling,  these  shall  be  only  to  advertise  you,  that  this  bearer  and  his 
fellow  be  dispatched,  with  as  many  things  to  compass  our  matter,  and 
to  bring  it  to  pass,  as  our  witts  colde  imagine  or  devise,  which  brought 
to  pass,  as  I  trust  by  their  diligence  it  shall  be  shortly,  you  and  I  shall 
have  our  desired  end,  which  should  be  more  to  my  heart's  ease,  and 
more  quietness  to  my  mind,  than  any  other  thing  in  this  world,  as,  with 
God's  grace,  shortly,  I  trust,  shall  be  proved,  but  not  so  soon  as  I 
would  it  were.  Yet  T  will  ensure  you,  there  shall  be  no  time  lost,  that 
may  be  wone  ;  and  further  cannot  be  done,  for  ultra  posse  non  est  esse. 
Keep  him  not  too  long  with  you,  but  desire  him,  for  your  sake,  to  make 
the  more  speed ;  for  the  sooner  we  shall  have  word  from  him,  the  sooner 
shall  our  matter  come  to  pass.  And  thus,  upon  trust  of  your  short 
repair  to  London,  I  make  an  end  of  my  letter,  mine  awn  sweet  heart. 
Writtne  with  the  hand  of  him,  which  desireth  as  much  to  be  yours,  as 
you  do  to  have  him.  H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — Between  Sep.  1,  and  Dec.  1,  1528. 
Darling,  though  I  have  skant  leisure,  yet,  remembring  my  promise, 
I  thought  it  convenient  to  certifie  you  brevely  in  what  case  our  affaires 
stand.  As  touching  a  lodging  for  you,  we  have  gotten  won,  by  my 
lord  cardinal's  means,  the  like  whereof  could  not  have  been  found  here 
about,  for  all  causes,  as  this  bearer  shall  more  shew  you.  As  touching 
our  other  affairs,  I  ensure  you  there  can  be  no  more  done,  nor  more 
diligence  used,  nor  all  manner  of  dangers  better  both  foreseen  and  pro 
vided  for ;  so  that  I  trust  it  shall  be  hereafter  to  both  our  comforts ;  the 
specialities  whereof  were  both  too  long  to  be  written,  and  hardly  by 
messenger  to  be  declared :  wherefore,  till  you  repair  hyder,  I  keep 
something  in  store,  trusting  it  shall  not  be  long  to.  For  I  have  caused 
my  lord,  your  father,  to  make  his  provisions  with  speed :  and  thus  for 
lake  of  time,  darling,  I  make  an  end  of  my  letter,  written  with  the  hand 
of  him,  which  I  would  were  yours.  H.  R. 

The  same  to  the  same. — In  October,  or  November,  1528. 
To  inform  you  what  joy  it  is  to  me  to  understand  of  your  conforma 
bleness  to  reason,  and  of  the    suppressing  of  your  inutile  and  vain 


APPENDIX.  357 

thoughts  and  fantasies  with  the  bridle  of  reason,  I  ensure  you  all  the 
good  in  this  world  could  not  contrepasse  for  my  satisfaction  the  know 
ledge  and  certainty  thereof:  wherefore,  good  sweetheart,  continue  the 
same,  not  only  in  this,  but  in  all  your  doings  hereafter ;  for  thereby 
shall  come  both  to  you  and  me  the  greatest  quietness,  that  may  be  in  this 
world.  The  cause  why  this  bearer  tarryeth  so  long  is,  the  business,  that 
I  have  had  to  dress  up  geer  for  you,  which  I  trust,  ere  long,  to  see  you 
occupie  ;  and  then  I  trust  to  occupye  yours,  which  shall  be  recompence 
enough  to  me  for  all  my  pains  and  labors.  The  unfeigned  sickness  of  this 
well  willing  legate  doth  somewhat  retard  his  access  to  your  person  ;  but  I 
trust  verily,  when  God  shall  send  him  health,  he  will  with  diligence  re 
compense  his  demurr ;  for  I  know  well  where  he  hath  said  (lamenting 
the  saying  and  brute,  that  he  shall  be  imperial),  that  it  shall  be  well 
known,  in  this  matter,  that  he  is  not  imperial.  And  this,  for  lake  of 
time,  farewell.  Writtne  with  the  hand,  which  fain  would  be  yours, 
and  so  is  the  heart.  H.  R. 

No.  XV.—  (Referred  to  at  page  183.) 

Hull  of  Dispensation,  permit  I  ing  Henry  to  contract  another  marriage,  if 
that  with  Catherine  were  annulled. 

[Herbert,  279.] 

Clemens  episcopus,  servus  servorum  Dei,  charissimo  in  Christo  filio 
nostro,  Henri co  Angliae  regi  illustri,  fidei  deferisori,  salutem,  et  aposto- 
licam  benedictionem.  Exponi  nobis  nuper  fecisti,  quod  alias  tu  et  di- 
lecta  in  Christo  filia  Catharina,  relicta  quondam  Artlmri  fratris  tui  ger- 
mani,  non  ignorantes  vos  primo  affinitatis  gradu  invicem  fore  conjunctos, 
matrimonium  per  verba  alias  legitime  de  presenti,  nulla  saltern  canonica, 
seu  valida  dispensatione  desuper  obtenta,  quamvis  de  facto,  contraxistis, 
illudque  carnali  copula  consummastis,  ac  prolem  ex  hujusmodi  matri- 
monio  suscepistis,  excommunicationis  sententiam  incurrendo  :  Et  cum 
majestas  tua  in  hujusmodi  matrimoriio  absque  peccato  remanere  nequeat ; 
et,  ne  diutius  in  hujusmodi  peccato,  et  excommunicatioais  sententia  re- 
maneat,  desideret  ab  hujusmodi  excommunicationis  sententia  ajudice 
ecclesiastico  competente  absolutionis  beneficium  obtinere,  ac  matrimo 
nium  ipsum  nulhnn,  et  invalidum  fuisse,  tibique  licere  cum  quacunque 
alia  muliere  (alio  non  obstante  canone)  matrimonium  contrahere,  decla- 
rari,  et,  in  eventum  declarationis  nullitatis  matrimonii  hujusmodi,  tecuin 
dispensari,  ut  cum  quacunque  alia  muliere,  tametsi  ilia  talis  sit,  quae  alias 
cum  alio  matrimonium  contraxerit,  dummodo  illud  carnali  copula  non 
consummaverit,  etiamsi  tibi  alias  secundo  vel  remotiori  consanguinitatis, 
aut  primo  affinitatis  gradu,  ex  quocunque  licito,  seu  illicito  coitu,  con- 


358  APPENDIX. 

juncta  (dummodo  relicta  dicti  fratris  tui  non  fuerit)  ac  etiamsi  cogna- 
tione  spiritual!,  vel  legali,  tibi  conjunctaextiterit,  et  impedimentum  pub- 
licae  honestatis  justitiae  subsistat,  matrirnonium  licite  contrahere,  et  in  illo 
libere  remanere,  et  ex  eo  prolem  legitimam  suscipere  possis.  Quare  pro 
parte  tui,  asserentis  ex  antiquis  chronicis  regni  constare,  in  ipso  regno 
quamplurimagravissima  bella  saepe  exorta,  et  christianam  pacem,  et  con- 
cordiam  violatam  fuisse,  propter  impios  homines,  sua  detestanda  regnandi 
et  dominandi  libidine  excitatos,  confingentes  ex  justis,  et  legitimis  quo- 
rundam  progenitorum,  et  antecessorum  tuorum,  Angliae  regum,  nuptiis 
procreates,  illegitimos  fore  propter  aliquod  consanguinitatis,  vel  affinitatis 
confictum  impedimentum,  et  propterea  inhabiles  esse  ad  regni  succes- 
sionem,  indeque  miserandam  principum,  ac  procerum,  et  populorum 
subditorum  stragem  sequutam  fuisse,  nobis  fuit  humiliter  supplicatum, 
ut  regni  tui  tuorumque  subditorum  tranquillitati,  et  paci  imprimis  con- 
sulere,  et  tantis  malis  obviare,  ac  alias  in  praamissis  opportuna  remedia 
adhibere,  de  benignitate  apostolica  dignaremur.  Nos,  qui  omnium  re- 
gum,  praesertirn  majestatis  tuae,  ob  ejus  quamplurima  immensa  in  nos,  et 
hanc  sanctam  sedem,  in  qua  permissione  divina  sedemus,  collata  berieficia, 
dum  ab  iniquissimis  pestilentissimorum  hominum  conatibus.  qui  earn  par- 
tim  viribus,  et  scelerata  audacia,  partim  perversa  doctrina  labefactare 
moliebantur,  strenuissime  cum  viribus,  et  gladio,  turn  calamo,  et  erudi- 
tione  tua  vindicare  indies  non  cessat,  petitiones  (presertim  salutem  ani- 
marum  concernentes)  quantum  cum  Deo  possumus,  ad  exauditionis  gra- 
tiam  libenter  admittimus,  eorumque  honestis  votis  favorabiliter  annuimus, 
ex  praemissis,  et  nonnullis  aliis  causis  nobis  notis,  hujusmodi  supplica- 
tionibus  inclinati,  tecum,  ut,  si  contingat  matrimonium,  cum  praefata 
Catharina  alias  contractum,  nullum  fuisse,  et  esse,  declarari,  teque  ab 
illius  vinculo  legitime  absolvi,  cum  quacunque  muliere,  ipsaque  mulier 
tecum,  dummodo  a  te  propter  hoc  rapta  non  fuerit,  etiamsi  ipsa  mulier 
talis  sit,  quae  prius  cum  alio  matrimonium  contraxerit,  dummodo  illud 
carnali  copula  non  fuerit  consummatum,  etiamsi  ilia  tibi  alias  secundo, 
aut  remotiori  consanguinitatis,  aut  primo  affinitatis  gradu,  etiam  ex  quo- 
cunque  licito,  vel  illicito  coitu  proveniente,  conjuncta  existat  (dummodo 
relicta  fratris  tui  non  fuerit,  ut  praefertur),  etiamsi  cognationis  spiritu- 
alis,  aut  legalis,  et  publicae  honestatis  justitiae  impedimentum  subsistat, 
matrimonium  licite  contrahere,  et,  postquam  contractum  fuerit,  in  eo  sic 
contracto,  etiamsi  illud  inter  te,  et  ipsam  mulierern,  jam  de  facto  pub- 
lice  vel  clandestine  contractum,  et  carnali  copula  consummatum  fuerit, 
licite  remanere  valeatis,  authoritate  apostolica,  et  ex  cert  nostra  scien- 
tia,  et  de  apostolicae  potestatis  plentitudine,  tenore  presentium  dispen- 
samus,  prolem  inde  forsan  susceptam,  et  suscipiendam  legitimam  fore 
decernentes :  non  obstantibus  prohibitionibus  juris  divini,  ac  constitu- 


APPENDIX.  359 

tionibus,  et  ordinationibus  aliis  quibuscunque,  in  contrarium  editis, 
quibus  (in  quantum  apostolica  authoritas  se  extendit),  illis  alias  in  suo 
robore  permansuris,  quoad  hoc,  specialiter  et  expresse  derogamus :  dis- 
tricte  inhibentes,  et,  in  virtute  sanctae  obedientiae,  expresse  mandan- 
tes,sub  interminationibus  judicii  divini,  ac  sub  pcena  anathematis,  aliisque 
ecclesiasticis  sententiis,  censuris,  et  pcenis,  quas  ex  nunc,  prout  ex  tune, 
et  e  converso,  ferimus,  et  proraulgamus,  in  his  scriptis,  ne  quisquam 
inposterum  ullum  impedimentum  praecontractus  matrimonialis  non  con- 
summati,  consanguinitatis  in  secundo,  aut  ulteriori  gradu,  affinitatis  in 
primo,  ut  prsefertur,  cognationis  spiritualis,  aut  legalis,  seu  justitiae  pub- 
licae  honestatis  impediment,  praedict.  adversus  liberos  tuos,  quos  ex  quo- 
cunque  matrimonio,  vigore  presentium  contrahendo,  Dei  benignitate 
susceperis,  palam  vel  occulte,  in  judicio,  vel  extra  illud,  allegare,  propo- 
nere,  aut  objicere,  seu  verbo,  vel  facto  diffarnare  praesumat,  aut  quo- 
cunque  rnodo  attentet.  Nulli  ergo  omnino.  hominum  liceat  hanc  pagi- 
nam  nostrae  dispensationis,  decreti,  derogationis,  inhibitions,  et  mandati 
infringere,  vel  ei  ausu  temerario  contraire.  Si  quis  autem  hoc  attentare 
praesumpserit,  indignationem  omnipotentis  Dei,  ac  beatorum  Petri  et 
Pauli,  apostolorum  ejus,  se  noverit  incursurum.  Datum  in  civitate  nos- 
tra  Urbe  Veteri,  anno  incarnationis  Dominicae  millesimo  quingentesimo 
vicesimo  septimo;  decimo  sexto  calend.  Januarii,  pontificates  nostri 
anno  quinto. 

No.  XVI.— (Referred  to  at  page  184.) 

Bulla   Commissionis   ad    Cognoscendum   in    causa  matrimoniali   inter 

Regern,  et  Catherinam  Reginam. 

[Rymer,  xiv.  237,  238.] 

Clemens  episcopus,  servus  servorum  Dei,  dilecto  filio  Thomae,  tituli 
sanctae  Ceciliae  presbytero  cardinali,  Eboracensi  nuncupate,  in  regno 
Anglise  nostro  et  apostolicae  sedis  legato,  salutem  et  apostolicam  bene- 
dictionem. 

Sane  ad  aures  riostras,  ex  plurimorum  fide  dignorum  relatione,  fre 
quenter  perlatum  est  de  validitate  illius  matrimonii,  quod  charissimus  in 
Christo  films  noster,  Henricus  AngliaB  rex  illustris,  fidei  defensor,  et 
dominus  Hiberniae,  cum  charissima  in  Christo  filia  nostra  Catherina 
regina,  sedis  apostolicae  dispensation  e  praetensa,  contraxisse  et  consum- 
masse  dignoscitur,  subortam  nuper  in  partibus  illis  quaestionem,  quas, 
licet  in  publicum  ecclesiae  judicium  deducta  hactenus  non  fuerit,  causae 
tamen  tarn  magni  gravisque  monenti  exitus  (videlicet,  quern  justitia  et 
aequitas  dederit)  animos  istic  omnium  sic  habet  suspenses,  ut  celerem 
ac  maturam  definitionem  requirat  non  sine  maximo  discrimine  pro- 
telandam. 


360  APPENDIX. 

Cum  itaque  nos,  quos  ad  justitiam  in  judicio  et  veritate  omnibus  e* 
aequo  subministrandum  servum  servorum  Deus  constituit,  facti  verita- 
tem  per  nos  ipsos  inquirere,  ac  causam  hanc  examinare  non  valemus ; 
considerantes  praeterea  quod  factum,  ex  quo  jus  oritur,  illic  certius 
quam  hie,  turn  etiam  citius,  expeditiusque  cognosci  poterit ;  cupientes- 
que,  praesertim  in  regno  illo,  sedi  apostolicae  semper  devotissimo, 
omnem  dissentionum  materiam  extingui,  et  dulcissimum  ilium  pacis 
amorisque  intestinum  concentum,  felicissimamque  charitatis  harmoniam 
multos  jam  annos  constantem,  retineri,  ac  imposterum  conservari,  dic- 
tamque  proinde  super  praBfato  matrimonio  causam  in  judicio  justitia  et 
veritate  decidi,  certumque  firmum  validum  et  maturum  (quod  maxime 
expedit)  finem  sortiri,  circumspection!  tuae,  adjuncto  tibi  venerabili 
fratre  nostro  archiepiscopo  Cantuariensi,  totius  Angliae  primate,  et 
apostolicae  sedis  legato  nato,  seu  alio  quocumque  illius  regni  episcopOj 
ad  audiendum  omnia  et  singula  ea  quae  dicti  matrimonii  vires,  dispen- 
sationisve  apostolicae  cujuscunque  coram  vobis  producendae  aut  exhi- 
bendae  validitatem  aut  invaliditatem  contingat,  deque  et  super  omnibus 
illis  ac  aliis  quibuscunque  materiis,  allegationibus,  et  causis,  dictum 
matrimonium  aut  dispensationem  concernentibus,  seu  tangentibus,  cog- 
noscendum  ;  necnon  in  causa  dicti  matrimonii,  et  validitatis  dispensa- 
tionis,  vocatis  partibus,  summarie  et  de  piano,  sine  strepitu  et  figura 
judicii,  procedendum;  dispensationes  quascunque  apostolicas,  prout 
illas  validas,  efficaces,  et  sufficientes,  invalidasve,  inefficaces,  minus  suf- 
ficientes,  surreptitias,  aut  obreptitias,  aut  alio  quocunque  modo  enervatas 
inveneris,  tales  illas  esse  et  haberi  deberi  pronuntiandum  et  declarandum, 
dictumque  matrimonium  similiter,  si  ab  alterutra  parte  petatur,  prout 
animo  conscientiaeque  tuae  juris  ratio  persuaserit,  validum  justum  et 
legitimum  ac  firmum  esse,  aut  e  contra  invalidum  injustum  et  illegiti- 
mum  nullumque  fuisse  et  esse,  pro  valido  justo  legitimo  et  firmo,  aut  e 
contra  invalido  injusto  et  illegitimo  nulloque,  haberi  deberi  definiendum 
sententiandum  et  decernendum,  ac,  in  eventum  improbatae  dispensa- 
tionis,  et  declarationis  nullitatis  matrimonii,  summarie  et  de  piano,  sine 
strepitu  et  figura  judicii,  ut  praefertur,  sententiam  divortii  judicialitet 
proferendum  ;  denique  tarn  Henrico  regi  quam  Catharinae  reginae  prae- 
fatis  ad  alia  vota  commigrandi  licentiam  in  Domino  et  facultatem  tri- 
buendum,  tibi,  citra  omnem  personae  aut  jurisdictionis  gradum,  omni 
recusatione  et  appellatione  remotis,  vices  et  omnem  auctoritatem  nos- 
tram  committimus  et  demandamus,  teque  ad  ea  omnia,  quae  in  hac 
commissione  continentur  duntaxat,  exequenda,  expedienda,  ac  plenae 
finalique  execution!  demandanda  vicegerentem  nostrum  etiam  ex  certa 
nostra  scientia  creamus  et  deputamus,  ita  ut,  in  praemissis,  quod  nos 


APPENDIX.  361 

auctoritate  et  potestate  nostra  facere  possemus,  id  etiam  tu  facere  possis, 
tibi  quoque  tarn  prolem,  ex  primo  matrimonio  susceptam,  si  id  ita 
expedire  visum  fuerit,  quam  ex  secundo  matrimonio  suscipiendam, 
legitimam  decernendi  pronunciandi  et  promulgandi,  legitimitatem  etiam 
utriusque  prolis,  censuris  et  poems  ecclesiasticis  quibuscunque,  per 
modum  decreti  aut  sanctionis  perpetuae,  muniendi  et  vallandi,  omnibus 
validioribus  et  efficacioribus  modis  et  formis  quae  de  jure  concipi  et 
excogitari  poterint,  ex  certa  nostra  scientia,  auctoritate  apostolica  tenore 
praesentium  potestatem  pariter  et  auctoritatem  concedimus ;  nonobstan- 
tibus  conciliis  generalibus,  apostolicis  constitutionibus,  et  ordinationibus 
editis  cseterisque  contrariis  quibuscunque. 

Dat.  in  urbe  veteri  anno  incarnationis  Dominicae  millesimo  quingen- 
tisimo  vigesimo  octavo,  idibus  Aprilis,  pontificates  nostri  anno  quinto. 

B.  MOTTA. 

Sub  Plumbeo  sigillo  pendente  a  filo  Canabeo. 

No.  XVII.— (Referred  to  at  page  184.) 

Wolsey  to  the  Pope.     Feb.  10,  1528. 

[Vitellius,  B.  x.  78.] 

Beatissime  pater,  post  humillimam  commendationem,  et  sanctissi- 
morum  pedum  oscula,  doleo  atque  gravissime  excrucior,  quod  ea  qua? 
tanta  solicitudine,  literis  et  nuntiis  apud  beatitudinem  vestram  ago,  ne- 
queam,  ut  unice  et  rerum  omnium  maxime  vellem,  prius  tractare,  hoc 
est,  negotium  potentissimi  domini  mei  regis,  negotium  inquam  rectissi- 
mum,  honestissimum,  ac  sanctissimum,  in  quo  procurando  non  aliter 
me  interpono,  quam  in  ejus  regiae  majestatis  salute  tuenda,  in  hoc  regno 
conservando,  in  publica  tranquillitate  fovenda,  in  apostolica  authoritate, 
in  mea  denique  vita  et  anima  protegenda  debeo.  Beatissime  pater,  ad 
vestrae  sanctitatis  genua  provolutus,  obsecro  et  obtestor,  ut,  si  me  chris- 
tianum  virum,  si  bonum  cardinalem,  si  sacrosancto  isto  senatu  dignum, 
si  apostolicae  sedis  membrum  non  stupidum  et  inutile,  si  recti  justitiaeque 
cultorem,  si  fidelem  creaturam  suam,  si  demum  aaternse  salutis  cupidum 
me  existimet,  nunc  velit  mei  consilii  et  intercessionis  rationem  habere, 
et  pientissimis  hujus  regis  precibus  benigne  prompteque  adnuere,  quas 
nisi  rectas  sanctas  ac  justas  esse  scirem,  omne  prius  supplicii  genus 
ultro  subirem,  quam  eas  promoverem ;  pro  hisque  ego  vitam  meam  et 
animam  spondeo.  Alioquin  vereor  (quod  tamen  nequeo  tacere)  ne 
regia  majestas,  humano  divinoque  jure  (quod  habet  ex  omni  christiani- 
tate  sui^  his  actionibus  adjunctum)  freta,  postquam  viderit  sedis  apos- 
tolicse  gratiam,  et  Christi  in  terris  vicarii  clementiam  desperatam,  CaBsaris 
intuitu,  in  cujus  manu  neutiquam  est  tain  sanctos  conatus  reprimere,  ea 


362  APPENDIX. 

| 

tune  moliatur,  ea  suae  causae  perquirat  remedia,  quae  et  non  solum  huic 
regno,  sed  etiam  aliis  christianis  principibus,  occasionem  subministrarent 
sedis  apostolicae  auctoritatera  et  jurisdictionem  imminuendi  et  vilipen- 
dendi,  non  absque  christianae  reipublicae  perturbatione  :  quibus  malis 
potest  vestra  sanctitas  sua  auctoritate  et  prudentia  mederi.  Haec  lo- 
quor  ut  christianus,  et  ut  devotissimum  istius  sedis  membrum  sincere 
suadeo.  Non  affectus,  non  principis  amor,  non  servitutis  vinculum  me 
impellit,  sed  sola  rectitudine  ad  id  adducor.  Cseterum  animi  solicitude 
non  sinit  plura  exprimere.  Vestra  sanctitas,  in  tarn  justo  regis  voto 
adnuendo,  sic  ejus  majestatis  animum  sibi  devinciet  et  conservabit,  ut 
non  solum  ipse  et  ego,  sed  omnes  ejus  subditi  sint,  ad  omnem  occasi 
onem,  opes  vires  et  sanguinem,  in  sanctitatis  vestrae  et  apostolicae  sedis 
beneficium,  libentissime  profusuri.  Mitto  ad  beatitudinem  vestram, 
hujus  rei  gratia,  dominum  Stephanum  Gardinerum,  primarium  secre- 
tissimorum  conciliorum  meorum  secretarium,  mei  dimidium,  et  quo 
neminem  habeo  cariorem.  Referet  ille  cuncta  distinctius,  meum  pectus 
aperiet.  Vestram  igitur  sanctitatem  humillime  rogo,  ut  eum  loquentem 
me  loqui  existimare,  et  earn  fidem,  quam  praesenti  mihi  haberet,  illi  et 
domino  Edwardo  Foxo,  regio  familiari,  in  omnibus  praestare,  et  rne  a 
tarn  anxia  expectatione  liberare,  dignetur. 

Letter  from  Wolsey  to  G.  Casali,  requesting  a  Decretal  Bull. 

May  7,  1528. 
[Vitellius,  B.  x.  88.] 

Magnifice  donrine  Gregori,  &c.  Ingentem  serenissima  regia  majestas 
et  ego  laetitiam  concepimus,  quum  turn  ex  domini  Stephani  literis,  turn 
vero  ex  domini  Foxi  relatu  cognovimus,  quanta  fide,  industrial,  ac  vigi- 
lantia  usi  sitis  in  ejusdem  regiae  majestatis  conficiendo  negotio ;  quern 
vestrum  animum,  etsi  saepe  antea  arduis  in  rebus  exploratissimum  cer- 
tissimumque  haberemus,  hoc  tamen  tarn  claro  testimonio  nunc  esse 
comprobatum  mirifice  laetamur :  nihil  enim  a  vobis  omissum  perspici- 
mus,  quod  votum  nostrum  utcuncque  juvare  potuisset.  Ceterum  cum 
nonnulla  adhuc  meo,  aliorumque  doctissimorum  virorum  judicio  super- 
esse  videantur,  ad  regiae  majestatis  causam  securissime  stabiliendam, 
finiendamque,  de  quibus  ad  D.  Stephanum  in  presentia  perscribo,  vos 
iterum,  atque  iterum  rogo,  ut  de  illis  impetrandis,  apud  S.  D.  N.,  una 
cum  D.  Stephano,  vestram  gratiam,  et  authoritatem,  quam  apud  ejus 
sanctitatem  maximam  esse  et  audio,  et  gaudeo,  pro  viribus  interponatis, 
maxime  autem  ut  in  commissione  ilia  decretali  a  S.  D.  N.,  nullis  arbi- 
tris,  seu  consultoribus,  admissis,  concedenda,  et  secreto  ad  me  mittenda, 
omnes  vires  ingenii,  prudentiae,  diligentiaeque  vestrae  adhibeatis ;  affir- 
mabitisque,  et  in  salutem  animamque  meam  eidem  S.  D.  N.  sponde- 


APPENDIX.  363 

bitis,  quod  dictam  bullam  secretissime,  nullis  mortalium  oculis  conspi- 
ciendam,  apud  me  asservabo,  tanta  fide  et  cautione,  ut  ne  minimum 
quidem  ex  ea  re  periculum,  vel  periculi  metura  ejussanctitassit  sensura. 
Non  enirn  eo  consilio,  aut  animo,  earn  commissioner!!  impetrari  tarn 
vehementer  cupio,  ut  vel  illius  vigore  ullus  processus,  aut  aliud  preterea 
quicquam  ageretur,  vel  eadem  publice,  privatimve  legenda  ulli  exhibe- 
retur  ;  sed  ut  hac,  quasi  arrha,  et  pignore  summae  paternaeque  S.  D.  N. 
erga  regiam  majestatem  benevolentiae  apud  me  deposita,  cum  videat 
nihil  illi  denegaturum  quod  petiverit,  perspiciatque  tantum  fidei  ejus 
sanctitatem  in  me  reposuisse,  sic  mea  apud  dictam  majestatem  augeatur 
authoritas,  ut  quanquam  vires  omnes  suas  opesque  apostolicae  sedis 
conser-vationi,  et  in  pristinum  statum  reparation!  sua  sponte  dicaverit, 
me  tamen  suasore  et  consultore,  omnia  in  posterum,  et  cum  sanguinis 
effusione,  sit  concessura,  et  effectura,  quae  in  ejusdem  sedis  et  suae  bea- 
titudinis  securitatem,  tranquillitatem,  et  commodum  quacunque  ratione 
cedere  poterunt. 

Wolsey  to  G.  Casali,  requesting  permission  to  show  the  Decretal  Bull  to 
certain  Members  of  the  King's  Council,  1528. 

[Vitellius,  B.  x.  192.] 

Illud  igitur  video  maxime  necessarium  superesse,  ut  decretalis  bulla, 
quam  reverendissimus  dominus  legatus  secum  defert,  secreto  legenda 
exhibeatur  nonnullis  ex  regiis  consultoribus,  eo  quidem  consilio,  non  ut 
in  judicium  proferatur,  vel  ad  causam  defmiendam  adhibeatur,  sed 
solum  ut  perspicient.es  illi,  quorum  prudentia,  et  authoritas  non  parva 
est,  nihil  a  me  fuisse  omissum,  quod  causam  regis  possit  securissimam 
reddere,  omniaque  fuisse  a  S.  D.  N.  concessa,  quae  in  causae  firmamen- 
tum  ullo  pacto  queant  excogitari,  facilius,  ubi  regiae  majestatis  securi- 
tati,  regni  quieti,  et  perpetuo  totius  rei  stabilimento  undique  consultum 
viderint,  in  sententiam  nostram  deveniant,  summaque  cum  diligentia,  et 
authoritate  apostolica,  ad  Dei  gloriam  cuncta  rectissime  absolvantur. 
Proinde,  domine  Gregori,  iterum  atque  iterum  vos  impense  rogo,  quod, 
ad  S.  D.  N.  genua  devoluti,  ejus  beatitudinem  meo  nomine  obsecretis, 
ut  hoc  reliquum  meae  fidei  meaeque  dexteritati  de  bulla  decretali  osten- 
denda  committere  velit ;  quam  rem  sic  moderabor,  ut  nullum  prorsus 
periculum,  nullum  damnum,  nullum  odium  queat  unquam  sibi,  vel  sedi 
apostolicae  provenire  ;  hocque  tarn  instanter  precor,  ut  pro  salute  mea 
conservanda  petere  queam  ardentius  nihil. 


364  APPENDIX. 

No.  XVIII.— (Referred  to  at  page  194.) 
The  Mull  of  Dispensation  for  the  King's  marriage  with  Catherine  of 

Spain. 

[Ryraer,  xiii.  89.] 

Julius  Episcopus,  servus  servorum  Dei,  dilecto  filio  Henrico,  charis- 
simi  in  Christo  filii  nostri,  Henrici,  regis  Angliae  illustris,  nato,  et 
dilectae  in  christo  filiae  Catharinse,  charissimi  in  Christo  filii  nostri,  Fer- 
dinandi  regis,  et  charissimae  in  Christo  filiae  nostrae  Elizabethae,  reginae, 
Hispaniarum  et  Siciliae  catholicorum,  natae,  illustribus,  salutem  et  apos- 
tolicam  benedictioriem.  Romani  pontificis  praecellens  auctoritas  cori- 
cessa  sibi  desuper  utitur  potestate,  prout,  personarum,  negotiorum,  et 
temporum  qualitate  pensata,  id  in  Domino  conspicit  salubriter  expe- 
dire.  Oblatae  nobis  nuper  pro  parte  vestra  petitionis  series  continebat, 
quod,  cum  alias  tu,  filia  Catharina,  et  tune  in  humanis  agens  quondam 
Arthurus,  charissimi  in  Christo  filii  nostri  Henrici  Angliae  regis  illus 
tris,  primogenitus  (pro  conservandis  pacis  et  amicitiae  nexibus  et 
fcederibus,  inter  charissimum  in  Christo  fiiium  nostrum  Ferdinandum, 
et  charissimam  in  Christo  fiiiam  nostram  Elizabethan!,  Hispaniarum  et 
Siciliae  catholicos,  ac  praefatum  Angliae  regem  et  reginam),  matrimo- 
nium  per  verba  legitime  de  prsesenti  contraxissetis,  illudque  carnali 
copula  forsan  consummavissetis,  dictus  Arthurus,  prole  ex  hujusmodi 
matrimonio  non  suscepta,  decessit ;  cum  autem,  sicut  eadem  petitio 
subjungebat,  ad  hoc,  ut  hujusmodi  vinculurn  pacis  et  amicitiae  inter 
praefatos  reges  et  reginam  diutius  permaneat,  cupiatis  matrimonium 
inter  vos  per  verba  legitime  de  pryasenti  contrahere,  supplicari  nobis 
fecistis,  ut  vobis  in  praemissis  de  opportunae  dispensationis  gratia  provi- 
dere  de  benignitate  apostolica  dignaremur ;  nos  igitur,  qui  inter  singulos 
Christi  fideles,  praesertim  catholicos  reges  et  principes,  pacis  et  con- 
cordiae  amcenitatem  vigere  intensis  desideriis  aff'ectamus,  vosque  et 
quemlibet  vestrum  a  quibuscumque  excommunicationis  suspensionis  et 
interdicti,  aliisque  ecclesiasticis  sententiis,  censuris,  et  pcenis  a  jure  vel 
ab  homine,  qua  vis  occasione  vel  causa,  latis,  si  quibus  quomodolibet  in- 
nodati  existitis,  ad  effectumprae  sentium  duntaxat  consequendum,  harum 
serie  absolventes,  et  absolutes  fore  censentes,  hujusmodi  supplicatio- 
nibus  inclinati,  vobiscum,  ut  impedimento  affinitatis  hujusmodi  ex 
praemissis  proveniente,  ac  constitutionibus  apostolicis  caeterisque  con- 
trariis  nequaquam  obstantibus,  matrimonium  per  verba  legitime  de 
praesenti  inter  vos  contrahere,  et  in  eo,  postquarn  contractum  fuerit, 
etiamsi  jam  forsan  hactenus  de  facto  publice  vel  clandestine  contraxe- 
ritis,  ac  illud  carnali  copula  corisunnnaveritis,  licite  remanere  valeatis, 
auctoritate  apostolica  tenore  pracsentiurn,  de  specialis  dono  gratite,  dis- 


APPENDIX.  365 

pensamus,  ac  vos  et  quemlibet  vestrum,  si  contraxeritis  (ut  praefertur), 
ab  excessu  hujusmodi,  ac  excomraunicationis  sententia  quam  propterea 
incurristis,  eadem  auctoritate  absolvimus,  prolem  ex  hujusmodi  matri- 
monio,  sive  contracto  sive  contrahendo,  susceptam  forsan  vel  susci- 
piendam,  legitimam  decernendo.  Proviso,  quod  tu,  filia  Catharina, 
propter  hoc  rapta  non  fueris :  Volumus  autem  quod,  si  hujusmodi  ma- 
trimonium  de  facto  contraxistis,  confessor,  per  vos  et  quemlibet  vestrum 
eligendus,  poenitentiam  salutarem  propterea  vobis  injungat,  quam  ad- 
implere  teneamini.  Nulli  ergo  omnino  hominum  liceat  hanc  paginam 
nostrae  absolutionis,  dispensationis,  et  voluntatis  infringere,  vel  ei  ausu 
temerario  contraire :  si  quis  autem  hoc  attentare  praesumpserit,  indig- 
nationem  Omnipotentis  Dei,  ac  beatorum  Petri  et  Pauli,  apostolorum 
ejus,  se  noverit  incursurum.  Dat.  Romae,  apud  S.  Petrum,  anno  in- 
carnationis  Dominicae  millesimo  quingentesimo  tertio,  septimo  Cal. 
Januarii,  Pontificates  nostri  anno  primo. 

SIGISMUNDUS. 

The  Breve  of  Dispensation, 

[Herbert,  266.] 

Julius  Papa  secundus,  &c.  Dilecte  fili,  et  dilecta  in  Christo  filia, 
salutem  et  apostolicam  benedictionem.  Romani  pontificis  praecellens 
auctoritas  concessa  sibi  desuper  utitur  potestate,  prout,  personarum, 
negotiorum,  et  temporum  qualitate  pensata,  id  in  Domino  conspicit 
salubriter  expedire.  Oblatae  nobis  nuper  pro  parte  vestra  petitionis 
series  continebat,  quod  cum  alias  tu,  filia  Catharina,  et  tune  in  humanis 
agens  quondam  Arthurus,  charissimi  in  Christo  filii  nostri  Henrici, 
Angliae  regis  illustrissimi,  primogenitus  (pro  conservandis  pacis  et  ami- 
citiae  nexibus  et  fcederibus,  inter  praefatum  Angliae  regem,  et  charissi- 
mum  in  Christo  filium  nostrum  Ferdinandum  regem,  et  charissimam  in 
Christo  filiam  nostram  Elizabethan!  reginam  catholicos  Hispaniarum  et 
Siciliae),  matrimonium  per  verba  legitime  de  praesenti  contraxeritis,  illud- 
que  carnali  copula  consummaveritis ;  quia  tamen  dominus  Arthurus, 
prole  ex  hujusmodi  matrimonio  non  suscepta,  decessit,  et  hujusmodi  vin- 
culum  pacis  et  connexitatis  inter  praefatos  reges  et  reginam  ita  firmiter 
verisimiliter  non  perduraret,  nisi  etiam  illud  alio  amnitatis  vinculo  con- 
foveretur  et  confinnaretur,  ex  his,  et  certis  aliis  causis,  desideratis  ma 
trimonium  inter  vos  per  verba  legitime  de  praesenti  contrahere :  sed, 
quia  desiderium  vestrum  in  praemissis  adimplere  non  potestis,  dispen- 
satiorie  apostolica  desuper  non  obtenta,  nobis  propterea  humiliter  sup- 
plicari  fecistis,  ut  vobis  providere  in  praemissis  de  dispensationis  gratia 
et  benignitate  apostolica  dignaremur.  Nos  igitur,  qui  inter  singulos 
Christi  fideles,  praesertim  catholicos  reges  et  principes,  pacis  et  con- 


366  APPENDIX. 

cordiae  amoenitatem  vigere  intensis  desideriis  affectamus  (his  et  aliis 
causis  animum  nostrum  moventibus),  hujusmodi  supplicationibus  incli- 
nati,  vobiscum,  ut,  aliquo  impedimento  affinitatis  hujusmodi  ex  prae- 
missis  proveniente  nonobstante,  matrimonium  inter  vos  contrahere,  et 
in  eo,  postquam  contractum  fuerit,  remanere,  libere  et  licite  valeatis, 
auctoritate  apostolica  per  prassentes  dispensamus :  et  quatenus  forsan 
jam  matrimonium  inter  vos  de  facto  publice  vel  clandestine  contraxe- 
ritis,  ac  carnali  copula  consummaveritis,  vos  et  quemlibet  vestrum  ab 
excessu  hujusmodi,  ac  excommunicationis  sententia,  quam  propterea 
incurristis,  eadem  auctoritate  absolvimus,  ac  etiam  vobiscum,  ut  in 
hujusmodi  matrimonio,  sic  de  facto  contracto,  remanere,  seu  illud  de  novo 
contrahere  inter  vos,  libere  et  licite  valeatis,  similiter  dispensamus; 
prolem,  ex  hujusmodi  matrimonio,  sive  contracto  sive  contrahendo, 
suscipiendam,  legitimam  decernendo.  Volumus  autem,  si  hujusmodi 
matrimonium  de  facto  contraxistis,  confessor,  per  vos  et  quemlibet  ves 
trum  eligendus,  poenitentiam,  quam  adimplere  teneamini,  propterea 
vobis  injungat.  Dat.  Romse,  apud  S.  Petrum,  sub  annulo  piscatoris, 
die  xxvi.  Decembris,  MDIII.,  Pontificates  nostri  anno  primo. 

No.  XIX.— (Referred  to  at  page  196.) 

Jl  Bull,  forbidding  Henry  to  contract  a  second  marriage,  until  thejtrst 

shall  have  been  judicially  and  properly  annulled. 

[Le  Grand,  iii.  446.] 

Universis  et  singulis,  ad  quos  presentes  literae  pervenerint,  salutem,  et 
apostolicam  benedictionem.  Exponi  nobis  nuper  fecit  charissima  in 
Christo  filia  nostra  Catharina  Angliae  regina  illustrissima,  quod  alias, 
postquam  validitatis  seu  invaliditatis  matrimonii,  ex  dispensatione  apos 
tolica  inter  reginam  ipsam  et  charissimum  in  Christo  filium  nostrum, 
Henricum  Angliae  regem  illustrissimum,  et  fidei  defensorem,  multis  jam 
decursis  annis,  prole  suscepta,  contracti,  et  pacifice  continuati,  ipsiusque 
dispensationis,  ac  inter  eos  divortii  causis,  ex  nostro  pastorali  officio  di- 
lectis  filiis,  Thomae  S.  Ceciliae,  et  Laurentio  S.  Mariae  in  trans-Tyberim, 
presbyteris  cardinalibus,  in  regno  Angliae  nostris,  et  apostolicae  sedis 
legatis  de  latere,  ornni  recusatione  et  appellatione  remotis,  per  eos  in 
eodem  regno  cognoscendis,  et  decidendis,  per  nos  commissis,  dictisque 
rege  et  regina,  ex  eorundem  cardinalium  officio  et  mandate,  certis  die 
et  loco,  in  jus  vocatis,  eadem  regina,  coram  iisdem  cardinalibus  et  legatis 
comparens,  ipsos  ex  loco,  et  personis,  ac  alias  suspectos  recusaverat,  et 
ab  eorum  citatione,  et  comminato  processu,  ad  nos  et  sedem  apostolicam 
pluries  appellaverat,  cum  ipsi  cardinal es  et  legati,  omnibus  his  rejectis, 
se  judices  competentes,  et  ad  ulteriora,  in  causis  ipsis,  per  eos  procedi 


APPENDIX.  367 

posse,  et  debere,  declarassent,  ipsa  tegina,  ab  hujusmodi  declaratione 
appellans,  illicentiata  recesserat,  ipsique  cardinales,  et  legati,  contra  earn 
ut  contumacem,  a  jurium  et  testium  receptione,  procuratore  ipsius  regis 
presente,  ac  alias  praacesserant.  Nos  ut  dictae  causaa  sine  suspicione 
procederent,  illas,  et  prasdictarum  appellationum,  ad  ipsius  reginae  sup- 
plicationem,  dilecto  filio  magistro  Paulo  Capisucio,  capellano  nostro,  et 
causarum  Palatii  apostolici  auditori,  per  eum  audiendas,  et  nobis  referen- 
das,  etiam  cum  potestate  regem  ipsum,  et  alios  citandi,  ac  eis  et  dictis 
cardinalibus  inhibendi  etiam  sub  censuris,  et  poenis  etiam  pecuniariis, 
etiam  per  edictum  publicum,  constito  summarie  et  extrajudicialiter  de 
nostro  tuto  accessu,  et  alias  commissimus,  ipseque  Paulus  auditor,  con 
stito  sibi  de  non  tuto  accessu,  citationem  ipsam,  cum  inhibitione  sub  cen 
suris,  et  decem  millium  ducatorum  auri  pcenis,  per  edictum  publicum, 
in  certis  locis  alma?  urbis  nostrae,  et  in  partibus,  in  collegiate  Beatas 
Mariae  Brugensis,  Tornacencis,  et  parochialisdeDunbrech  [Dunkerque], 
oppidorum  Morinensisdiocesium,ecclesiarum  valvis  affigendum  decrevit, 
et  in  eis  praemissa  legitime  executa  fuerint,  ac  dicto  regi,  et  aliis  omni 
bus,  ne  in  prejudicium  litis  ac  jurium  dicta  reginag  interim  aliquid  inno- 
varent,  mandatum  fuit,  revocatis  postea,  quoad  ipsum  regem,  pcenis  et 
censuris  in  citatione  et  inhibitione  appositis.  Cum  autem  pro  parte 
ejusdem  reginae  nobis  denuo  expositum  fuerit,  ad  ejus  aures  pervenisse,. 
regem  ipsum,  lite  hujusmodi,  ac  inhibitione,  et  mandate  sibi  factis,  non 
obstantibus,  se  jactare,  ad  secundas  nuptias  de  facto  devenire  velle,  in 
non  modicum  ipsius  reginae  praejudicium,  ac  in  ipsius  regis  animae  per- 
niciem,  quare  pro  parte  ipsius  reginae  nobis  fuit  humiliter  supplicatum, 
ut  ejus  honori,  ac  ipsius  regis  animae  saluti  consulere,  aliasque  in  prae- 
missis  opportune  providere  de  benignate  apostolica  dignaremur.  Nos 
itaque  attendentes,  justis  et  honestis  petitionibus  nostrum  assensum  de- 
negari  non  posse,  hujusmodi  supplicationibus  inclinati,  authoritate  apos 
tolica,  per  hoc  nostrum  edictum  publicum  in  audientia  nostra  contradic- 
tarum  publicandum,  ac  earundem  ecclesiarum  valvis  adfigendum,  cum 
alias  prasfato  Paulo  auditori  constiterit,  ad  illud  eidem  regi  intimandum 
non  patere  accessum,  prout  etiam  de  praesenti  non  pateat,  eidem  regi  ac 
quibusvis  utriusque  sexus,  etiam  ejus  domesticis,  ac  etiam  consiliariis, 
secretariis,  et  aliis  cujuscunque  status,  gradus,  dignitatis,  et  excellentiae 
personis,  districte  interdicimus,  prohibemus,  et  districtius  inhibemus, 
omnem  omnino  licentiam,  potestatem,  et  facultatem  ab  eis  auferentes, 
ne,  sub  majoris  excommunicationis,  et  suspensionis,  ac  etiam  omnium 
cathedralium,  et  metropotitanarum  ecclesiarum,  et  locorum  secularium, 
et  quorumvis  ordinum  regularium  dicti  regni,  interdicti  inviolabiliter  ob- 
servandi,  et  quorumvis  ecclesiasticarum  dignitatum,  feodorum,  benefici- 
orum,  et  bonorum  secularium,  et  ecclesiasticorum,  ac  inhabilitatis  ad  ea, 


368  APPENDIX. 

€t  quaecimque  alia  in  posterum  obtinenda,  latas  sententiae,  pcenis,  eo  ipso 
si  contra  fecerint,  vel  eorum  aliquis  contra  fecerit,  incurrendis,  ipse  rex 
antequam  per  debitam,  et  finalem  litis,  et  causa?  hujusmodi  expeditionem 
clare  liqueat  id  sibi  licere  de  jure,  cum  aliqua  muliere  cujuscunque  dig- 
nitatis,  et  excellentiae,  etiam  vigore  cujusvis  desuper  forsan  sibi,  aut  tali 
mulieri,  aut  alias  quomodolibet,  etiam  per  nos,  aut  sedem  praedictam 
concessse,  vel  concedendaa,  contrahendi  licentiaa,  aut  contract!  approba- 
tione,  nee  aliqua  mulier  cum  eodem  rege  matrimonium,  vel  sponsalia 
contrahere,  nee  forsan  contracta  et  consumrnata,  etiam  prole  suscepta, 
continuare,  nee  secretarii,  consiliarii,  praelati,  aut  quicunque  alii  inter- 
esse,  nee  de  eis  se  intromittere  quoquo  modo  pra3sumant,  nee  eorum 
aliquis  praesumat,  inhibendo  etiam  praadictis  cardinalibus,  et  legatis,  ac 
aliis  quibuscunque  ne  de  causis  praadictis,  aut  matrimonio  comminato, 
etiam  nomine  legatorum,  aut  privatim,  aut  alio  quoque  modo  se  intro- 
mittant.     Sed  cum  etiam,  lite  pendente,  nullus  debeat  possessione  con- 
jugii,  autdebiti  conjugalisspoliari,  idem  rex,  utprincipem  et  christianum 
catholicum  decet,  dictam  reginam  complectendo  illam  sub  dictis  pcenis 
affectione  maritali  tractet  in  omnibus,  et  per  omnia,  prout  idem  regi  con- 
venit,  et  finem  litis  sua  solita  prudentia  patienter  expectet.     Cum  juri 
conveniat  litem  prosequi,  et  maritales  affectus  praastare,  nee  ante  finem 
litis  rex  ipse,  alicujus  suasione,  aut  consilio,  conscientiam  laesam  habere, 
allegare,  aut  amrmare  valeat,  cum  de  his  judicare  ad  eum  non  pertineat, 
praesertim  cum  reginam  ipsam  pro  vera  conjuge  habuerit,  et  tractaverit, 
et  in  pacifica  possessione  hujusmodi  matrimonii,  cum  prolis  susceptione, 
fuerit ;  et  propterea,  si  rex  praefatus,  vel  alii,  inhibitioni,  ac  prohibition!, 
et  interdicto  hujusmodi  contravenerint,  regem  ipsuin,  ac  alios  omnes  su- 
pradictos  sententias,  censuras,  et  poenas  praedictas,  ex  mine,  prout  ex 
tune,  incurrisse  declaramus,  et  ut  tales  publicari,  ac  publice  nuntiari, 
et  evitari,  ac  interdictum  per  totum  regnum  Angliae,  sub  dictis  poenis, 
observari  debere,  volumus,  atque  mandamus.     Quocirca  vobis,  et  sin- 
gulis  vestrum,  etiam  in  dignitate  constitutis,  sub  excommunicationis  lataa 
sententiae  pcena,  districte  praacipiendo  mandamus,  quatenus  postquam 
praesentes  ad  vos  pervenerint,  seu  vobis  praesentatae  fuerint,  et  commode 
poteritis,  easdem  praasentes  literas  in  dicta  audientia  contradictarum 
publicari,  et  valvis  earundem  ecclesiarum  affigi,  ac  paulisper  inde  amo- 
veri,  et  earum  copiam  collationatam  eisdem  valvis  amxam  dimittere,  et 
demum  super  publicatione,  et  affixione  praesentium  literarum,  et  illarum 
copia?  affixae  dimissione,  publica  et  authentica  instrumenta,  manu  pub- 
lici  notarii,  coram  testibus  fieri  faciatis,  et  de  his  omnibus  et  aliis,  quse 
in  praamissis  per  vos  gesta  fuerint,  nos,  seu  Paulum  ipsum  auditorem, 
certiores  reddere  curabitis.     Nos  enim  praesentium  literarum  publica- 
tionem,  affixionem,  et  copiaa  dimissionem  per  vos  faciendas,  postquam 


APPENDIX.  369 

factse  fuerint,  eosdem  regem,  et  alios  prsedictos,  et  eorum  quemlibet,  pe-r 
rinde  arctare,  ac  si  prsesentes  omniaque  in  eis  contenta  eis  personaliter 
intimata,  ac  illarum  copise  eis  datse,  traditse,  et  dimissse  fuerint ;  et  nihil- 
ominus  quidquid  per  regem  et  alios  prsedictos,  et  eorum  quemlibet,  con 
tra  primum  interdictum,  et  alia  prsemissa  factum,  vel  attemptatum  fuerit, 
nullum  penitus,  et  invalidum,  nulliusque  roboris,  vel  momenti  esse,  ac 
interdictum  nostrum  hujusmodi,  et  alia  prsemissa,  prsesentesque  nostras 
literas,  et  quse  ex  eis  forsan  sequerentur,  etiam  cum  totali  earum  inser 
tion  e,  nullatenus  revocari,  suspendi,  derogari,  limitari,  restringi,  modifi- 
cari,  aut  declarari  posse,  etiam  per  nos,  aut  dictam  sedem,  etiam  motu, 
aut  ex  certa  scientia,  ac  de  apostolicse  potestatis  plentitudine  fiet,  nullius 
momenti  existere,  nisi  ad  ipsius  prefseta  reginse  specialis,  et  expressus 
accedat  assensus,  decernimus,  &c.  Datum  Bononiae,  sub  annulo  Pis- 
catoris,  die  7  Martii,  1530,  pontificates  nostri  anno  septimo. 

Sic  subscriptum.  Evangelista. 

No.  XX.— (Referred  to  at  page  198). 
Censura  Jlcademice  Oxoniensis  in  Causa  Divortii. 

[Wood,  Antiq.  Oxon.  255.] 

Omnibus  Christi  fidelibus  ad  quos  scriptum  praesens  pervenerit, 
Nos,  universitas  doctorum  et  magistrorum,  tarn  /egentium  quam  non 
regentium,  omnium  et  singularum  facultatum  almee  universitatis  Oxon, 
salutem  in  eo  qui  est  vera  salus.  Professionis  nostrae  debitum,  pariter 
et  Christianas  charitatis  officium,  illud  a  nobis  efflagitat,  ut  parati  et 
faciles  semper  simus  de  nostrse  cognitionis  luce  aliis  libenter  impertiri, 
et  satisfacere  omni  poscenti  de  ea  qua)  in  nobis  est  fide,  doctrina,  et 
scientia.  Cum  igitur  nos  ssepius  rogati,  et  requisiti  sumus,  ut,  an  nobis 
jure  divino,  pariter  ac  naturali,  prohibitum  videretur,  ne  quis  Chris- 
tianus  relictam  fratris  sui  morientis  sine  liberis  duceret  uxorem,  nos- 
tram  sententiam  explicaremus :  quoniam  examinatis,  et  discussis,  cum 
omni  fide,  diligentia,  et  sinceritate  sacrse  scripturae  locis,  et  sanctorum 
patrum  sententiis,  ac  interpretationibus,  quae  ad  eruendam  in  hac  quses- 
tione  veritatem  facere  et  pertinere  judicavimus,  turn  etiam  audita  gra- 
vissimorum  et  eruditissimorum  doctorum,  et  baccalaureorum  sacraa 
theologiae,  quibus  illud  negotii  demandatum  est,  opinione  et  sententia 
super  dicta  quaestione,  post  multas,  frequentes,  et  publicas  disputationes 
ab  illis  pronuntiata,  et  declarata,  invenimus,  et  judicavimus,  ilia  longe 
probabiliora,  validiora,  veriora,  et  certiora  esse,  turn  etiam  genuinum 
et  sincerum  sacras  scripturaB  sensum  praeferentia,  et  interpretum 
denique  sententiis  magis  consona,  quse  confirmant,  et  probant  jure  di 
vino,  pariter  et  naturali,  prohibitum  esse  Christianis,  ne  quis  frater 
relictam  germani  fratris  morientis  sine  liberis,  et  ab  eodem  carnahter 
VOL.  I.  B  B 


370  APPENDIX. 

cognitam,  accipiat  in  uxorem.  Nos  igitur,  universitas  Oxoniensis  ante- 
dicta,  ad  qusestionem  prsedictam  ita  respondendum  decreviraus,  et  in  his 
scriptis  ex  totius  universatis  sententia  respondemus,  ac  pro  conclusione, 
nobis  solidissimis  rationibus,  et  validissimis  argumentis  comprobata, 
affirraamus,  quod  ducere  uxorem  fratris,  mortui  sine  liberis,  cognitam  a 
priori  viro  per  carnalem  copulam,  nobis  christianis  est  de  jure  divino 
pariter  ac  naturali  prohibitum.  Atque  in  fidem,  et  testimonium  hujus- 
modi  nostrse  responsionis  et  affirraationis,  his  literis  sigillum  nostrum 
curavimus  apponi.  Datum  in  congregatione  nostra  Oxonii,  die  8 
.Aprilis,  1530. 

No.  XXL— (Referred  to  at  page  199.) 

Jlnthony   Wood's  Account   how  the    Oxford    Censure    against    Queen 
Catherine  and  King  Henry  VIII.'s  Marriage  was  obtained. 

[Antiq.  Oxon.  256.] 

Hanc  autem  Oxoniensium  determinationem,  quam  vocant,  regi  de- 
tulit  commissarius  academicus,  quern  et  togatorum  nonnulli  comita- 
bantur;  Henricum  vero  haud  modica  incessit  laetitia;  utpote  qui 
causam  suam  celeberimae  universitatis  suffragio  corroboratam  abunde 
intelligent,  cui  propterea  propensiorem  sese  in  posterum  spondebat. 
Atqui  pauca  duco  subnectenda,  repudium  hoc  regium,  et  academise 
nostrae  pertinaciam  tangentia. 

1.  Primo  itaque,  nemo  non  videt,  libera  ea  in  re  requisita  suffragia, 
sed  formulae  propositse  mancipatum  assensum  extortum  fuisse :  verum 
academicis  nostris  solemne  semper  fuit  terroribus  minime  cedere  de 
sententia,  nee  minis  dimoveri. 

2.  Quicquid  in  gratiam  regis,  exclusis  magistris,  gerebatur,  id  in  se 
irritum  prorsus  fuit,  si  jura  academies  spectentur.     Universitas  enim 
nostra,  quod  ssepius  monuimus,  in  artibus  fundata  est. 

3.  Suspicio  est,  periclitanti  hac  in  re  authoritati  papali  subvenien- 
dum  arbitrates  commissarium  et  collegiorum  presides,  regentes,  ut  in 
assensu  suo  negando  persisterent,  occulte  animasse :   regise  nimirum 
voluntati  contranitendum  sibi  aperte  nequaquam  existimantes,  ne  turn 
opum,  et  dignitatum  spe  deciderent,  turn  ulterioris  fortean  pcense  peri- 
culum  adirent. 

4.  Utriusque  academise,   necnon   cleri   Anglicani   (cujus  per  haec 
tempora  synodus,  sive  convocatio  solemnis,  habebatur)  procuratores, 
ut  quod  Henrico  cordi  esset  decerneretur,  satagebant ;  et  propter  alios 
in  easdem  partes  pertractos  proemia  reportabant. 

5.  Repudium  illud  pro  suggestu  etiam  impugnabant  academici  non 
nulli,  eruditione,  et  pietate  clari ;  famam  universitatis  in  clandestine  to 
gatorum  purpuratorum  conventu  laborare  profitentes. 


APPENDIX.  3/1 

6.  Divortium  quidem  licet  aperte  probabant,  acriterque  tuebantur 
^ommissarius  et    plerique  collegiorum    praefecti,   non   deerant  tamen 
doctores,  qui  audacter  reclamarent,  et  contrariam  sententiam  scriptis 
etiam  abstruerent,    quorum    de   numero,    praeter  Baynum   quendam, 
erant  Thomas  Kirkham  ex  ordine  minorum,  Johannes  Roper,  dominae 
Margaritse   mox    ante    professor,    Joannes    Holyman    antedictus,    et 
Joannes  Moreman   e  collegio  Exoniensi ;  de  quibus  nonnulla  memo- 
ratu  digna  subjungi  possint:  sed  a  proposito  nostro  aliena,  prassertim 
cum  ad  alia  festinandum  sit,  referre  non  vacat. 

7.  Denique,  frustra  sane  et  pcenas  academicis   interminatus   fuisset 
Henricus  (tametsi  aliquos  pontifici  addictos  clam  se  propterea  sub- 
duxisse  fatendum)    nisi    nocte    internpesta   conventum,  quern  simile- 
primo  nuncupamus,  quasi  per  latrocinium  habuisset  commissarius,  et 
prolate  clanculum  sigillo  publico,  literas,  quas  praefati  sumus,  firmasset : 
quern  cum  suis  in  ccetum  hunc  nocturnum   coiturum  animadvertens 
regentium  alter  (is  e  collegio  Baliolensi,  et,  nomine,  Henricus  Rex, 
fuisse  dicitur,  unde  adinventam  exjoco  fabulam  crediderim)  iisdem  se 
quam  citissime  adjunxit,  atque  braccis  loco  capucii  collo  circumdatis, 
facto  obsistebat,  ex  eorum  se  numero  palam  professus,  qui  commissario 
sigilli  academici  contra  fas,  et  academise  jura   scripto  subdititio  appo- 
nendi  usu  interdicerent. 

No.  XXII.— (Referred  to  at  page  199.) 

Determinatio  Jlcademice  Cantabrigiensis  in  Causa  Divortii. 

[Burnet,  iii.  Rec.  p.  22.] 

Nos,  Universitas  studentium  Academiae  Cantabrigiensis,  omnibus 
infrascripta  lecturis  auditurisve  salutem.  Cum  occasione  causae  matri- 
monialis,  inter  invictissimum  et  protentissimum  principem  et  Dominum 
nostrum,  Henricum  octavum,  Dei  gratia  Angliae  Franciseque  regem, 
Fidei  Defensorem,  ac  dominum  Hiberniae,  et  illustrissimam  dominam 
Catharinam  Reginam  controversae,  de  ilia  qua3stione  nostra  rogaretur  sen- 
tentia  (videlicet,  an  sit  jure  divino  et  naturali  prohibitum,  ne  frater  ducat 
in  uxorem  relictam  fratris,  mortui  sine  liberis  ?),  nos  de  ea  re  delibera- 
turi  more  solito  convenientes,  atque,  communicatis  consiliis,  matura 
consultatione  tractantes,  quomodo  [et]  quo  ordine  ad  investigationem 
veritatis  certius  procederetur,  ac  omnium  tandem  suffrages,  selectis 
quibusdam  ex  doctissimis  sacrae  theologiac  professoribus,  baccalaureis, 
ac  aliis  magistris  ea  cura  demandata,  ut,  scrutatis  diligentissime  sacrae 
scripturae  locis,  illisque  collatis,  referrent  ac  renunciarent,  quid  ipsi  dictae 
quaestioni  respondendum  putarent :  quoniam,  auditis,  perpensis,  ac, 
post  publicam  super  dicta  queestione  disputationem,  matura  delibera- 

B  B  2 


372  APPENDIX. 

tione  discussis  hi  is,  quae  in  quaestione  praedicta  alterutram  partem  sta- 
tuere  et  convellere  possint,  ilia  nobis  probabiliora,  validiora,  veriora, 
etiam  et  certiora,  ac  genuinum  et  sincerum  sacrae  scripturae  intellectum 
pras  se  ferentia,  interpretum  etiam  sententiis  magis  consona  visa  sunt, 
quse  confirmant  et  probant,  jure  divino  et  naturali  prohibitum  esse,  ne 
frater  uxorem  fratris,  mortui  sine  liberis,  accipiat  in  conjugem :  illis 
igitur  persuasi,  et  in  unam  opinionem  convenientes,  ad  quaestionem  prae- 
dictam  ita  respondendum  decrevimus,  et  in  hiis  scriptis,  nomine  totius 
universitatis,  respondemus,  ac  pro  conclusione  nobis  solidissimis  ratio- 
nibus  et  validissimis  argumentis  comprobata  affirmamus,  quod,  ducere 
uxorem  fratris  mortui  sine  liberis,  cognitam  d  priori  viro  per  carnalem 
copulam,  nobis  christianis  hodie  est  prohibitum  jure  divino  ac  naturali. 
Atque,  in  fidem  et  testimonium  hujusmodi  nostrae  responsionis  et  affir- 
mationis,  hiis  literis  sigillum  nostrum  commune  curavimus  apponi.  Dat. 
congregatione  nostra  Cantabrigian,  die  nono  Martii,  anno  Domini  mil- 
lesimo  quingentesimo  vicesimo  nono. 

No.  XXIIL— (Referred  to  at  page  201.; 

Censura  Facultatis   Theologies  Andegavensis,  contra  Divortium 
Henrici  VIII.  et  Catharince. 
[Le  Grand,  iii.  507.] 

Universis  praesentes  literas  inspecturisj  et  audituris,  nos  decanus,  et  fa- 
cultas  theologiae  almae  universitatis  Andegavensis,  salutem  in  Domino. 
Visum  est  nobis,  congregatis  ex  mandato  Christianissimi  domini  nostri 
regis,  submittendo  tamen  opinionem  nostram  censurae  ecclesiae  univer- 
salis,  super  dubium  nobis  propositum  (quod  est  tale,  utrum  jure  divino, 
pariter  et  naturali,  illicitum  sit  homini  Christiano  relictam  fratris  sui, 
etiam  absque  liberis,  sed  matrimonio  jam  consummate,  defuncti,  ducere 
uxorem?  et  an  pontifici  liceat  super  hujusmodi  nuptiis  dispensare  ?), 
Hujusmodi  matrimonium  non  adversari  juri  naturali,  neque  divino  ;  et 
pontificem,  propter  causam  rationabilem,  potuisse  in  hac  re  dispensare. 
In  quorum  omnium  testimonium,  jussimus  praesens  instrumentum 
sigillo  nostrae  facultatis  muniri,  ac  manu  nostri  procuratoris  et  scribae 
signari.  Datum  Andegavi,  in  nostra  congregatione  generali,  ad  hoc 
specialiter  celebrata,  in  refectorio  S.  Mauritii,  hac  die  7  mensis  Maii 
A.D.  1530.  Signatur  Michletius  procurator  et  scriba 

supradictae  facultatis. 

Censura  Alma  Universitatis  Jlurelianensis  in  Causa  Divortii. 

[Burnet,  i.  Rec.  p.  84.] 

Cum,  abhinc  aliquo  tempore,  nobis,  collegio  doctorum  regentium 
almae  universitatis  Aurelianensis,  propositae  fuerint  quae  sequuntur  quaes- 


APPENDIX.  373 

tiones  ;  viz.,  An  jure  divino  liceat  fratri  relictam  fratris  (quam  fratriam 
vocant)  accipere  uxorem?  Item,  Et  si  hoc  sit  eo  jure  vetitum,  utrum 
divinaB  legis  prohibitio  pontifical!  dispensatione  remitti  possit  ?  Nos, 
praedictum  collegium,  post  multas  ad  praedictorum  dubiorum  disputa- 
tionem  (de  more  nostro)  factas  sessiones,  et  congregationes,  postque 
juris  turn  divini  turn  canonici  locos  (quoad  facere  potuimus)  examina- 
tos,  et  omnibus  mature,  atque  exacte  pensatis,  et  consideratis ;  defini- 
vimus,  praedictas  nuptias  citra  divinae legis  injuriam  attentari  non  posse; 
etiamsi  summi  pontificis  accedat  indulgentia,  vel  permissio.  In  cujus 
rei  testimonium,  praesens  publicum  instrumentum  a  scriba  praefatae  almsu 
universitatis  subsignari  fecimus,  ejusdemque  sigillo  communiri.  Ac- 
turn  in  sacello  B.  Mariae  Boni-nuntii  Aurelianensis,  A.D.  1529,  die  5 
mensis  Aprilis 

Censura  Facullatum  Juris  Pontificii  et  Legum  Universitatis 
Andegavensis,  in  Causa  Divortii. 

[Rymer,  xiv.  391.] 

Cum  certo  abhinc  tempore  nobis,  rectori  et  doctoribus  regentibus  in 
pontificia  et  legum  disciplina  almas  universitatis  Andegavensis,  se- 
quentes  quaestiones  propositae  fuerint,  scilicet,  Utrum  jure  divino,  pariter 
et  naturali,  illicitum  sit  homini  Christiano  relictam  fratris  sui,  etiam 
absque  liberis,  sed  matrimonio  jam  consummate,  defuncti  ducere  uxo 
rem?  Et,  An  summo  pontifici  liceat  super  hujusmodi  nuptiis  dispen- 
sare  ?  Nos,  praefati  rector,  et  doctores,  post  plures  ad  disputationem 
hujusmodi  quaestionum,  et  veritatem  aperiendam  factas  ex  more  con 
gregationes  et  sessiones,  postque  varios  juris,  tarn  divini  quam  humani, 
locos,  qui  ad  rem  pertinere  videbantur,  discusses,  multas  quoque  rationes 
in  utramque  partem  adductas,  et  examinatas,  omnibus  fideliter  conside 
ratis,  et  matura  deliberatione  praehabita,  definimus,  neque  divino,  neque 
naturali  jure  permitti  homini  Christiano,  etiam  cum  sedis  apostolicae  au- 
thoritate,  seu  dispensatione,  super  hoc  adhibita,  relictam  fratris,  qui 
etiam  sine  liberis  post  consummatum  matrimonium  decesserit,  uxorem 
accipere  vel  habere.  In  quorum  omnium  supradictorum  fidem,  pratisens 
publicum  instrumentum  a  scriba  seu  notario  praefatae  almai  universitatis 
subsignari  jussimus,  ejusdemque  universitatis  consueto  sigillo  muniri. 
Actum  in  aede  sacra  divi  Petri  Andegavensis,  in  collegio  nostro,  A.D. 
1530,  die  7  mensis  Maii. 

Censura  Facultatis  Decretorum  almce  Universitatis  Parisiensis  in  Causd 

Divortii. 
[Rymer,  xiv.  392.] 

In  nomine  Domini,  Amen.  Cum  proposita  fuisset  coranL  nobis,  de- 
cano  et  collegio  consultissimtc  facultatis  decretorum  Parisiensis  univer- 


3/4  APPENDIX. 

sitatis,  qusDstio,  An  papa  possit  dispensare,  quod  frater  possit  in  uxo- 
rem  ducere,  sive  accipere,  relictam  fratris  sui,  matrimonio  consummate 
per  fratrem  prsemortuum  ?  Nos,  decanus  et  collegium  prsefatse  facul- 
tatis,  post  multas  disputationes,  et  argumenta,  hinc  inde  super  hac  ma- 
teria  facta,  et  habita,  cum  magna  et  longa  librorum,  tarn  divini,  quam 
pontificii  et  civilis,  jurium  revolutione,  consulimus,  et  dicimus,  papam 
non  posse  in  facto  proposito  dispensare.  In  cujus  rei  testimonium,  has 
praesentes  sigillo  nostra?  facultatis,  et  signo  nostri  scribae  primi  bedelli 
muniri  fecimus.  Datum  in  congregatione  nostra,  apud  sanctum  Jo- 
hannem  Lateranensem,  Parish's,  die  23  Maii,  A.D.  1530. 

Censura  Universitatis  Bituricensis  in  Causa  Divortii. 

[Rymer,  xiv.  392.] 

Nos  cum  decano  theologian,  facultas  in  universitate  Bituricensi  (ut, 
doctoris  gentium  Pauli  exemplo,  plerisque  locis,  auspicemur  scriptum 
nostrum  a  precatione)  omnibus  dilectis  Dei,  in  quibus  vocati  estis,  lee- 
tores  charissimi  quique,  ad  quos  scribimus,  gratia  vobis,  et  pax  a  Deo 
Patre,  et  Domino  nostro  Jesu  Christo.  Dum  complerentur  dies  inter 
octavas  Pentecostes,  et  essemus  omnes  pariter  in  eodem  loco,  corpore 
et  animo  congregati,  sedentesque  in  domo  dicti  decani,  facta  est  nobis 
rursus  quaestio  eadem,  qua?  saepius  antea,  non  quidem  parva,  hunc  in 
modum :  An  rem  faciat  illicitam  necne  frater  accipiens  in  uxorem  a 
praemortuo  fratre  relictam,  consummate  etiam  matrimonio  P  Tandem 
rei  ipsius  veritate  disquisita  et  perspecta,  multo  singulorum  labore,  et 
sacrorum  iterataatque  iterata  revolutione  codicum,  unusquisque  nostrum 
non  facinatus  quo  minus  veritati  obediret,  ccepit,  prout  Spiritus  Sanctus 
dedit,  suum  hoc  unum  arbitrium  eloqui  absque  personarum  acceptione  : 
in  veritate  comperi,  personas,  memoratas  in  capite  Levitici  octavo  supra 
decimum,  prohibitas  esse  jure  ipso  naturali,  authoritate  humana  minime 
relaxabili,  et  vetitas  ne  invicem  matrimonium  contrahant,  quo  fit  fra 
ternal  turpitudinis  abominabilis  revelatio.  Et  hoc  vobis  signum  nostri 
bedelli  notarii  publici,  cum  sigillo  dicta3  supra  nostra3  facultatis  pra3sen- 
tibus  appenso,  die  10  Junii,  anno  a  Christi  nativitate  1530.  Ut  autem 
nostrae  scriptionis  pes  et  caput  uni  reddantur  forma?,  quemadmodum 
sumus  auspicati  a  precatione,  ita  claudamus  illius,  quo  supra,  exemplo. 
Gratia  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi,  charitas  Dei,  et  communicatio  Sancti 
Spiritus,  sit  cum  omnibus  vobis.  Amen. 

Censura  Facultatis  sacrce  Theologies  Universitatis  Parisiensis  in  Causa 

Divortii. 
[Rymer,  xiv.  393.] 

Decanus  et  facultas  sacra?  theologia?  alma?  Universitatis  Parisiensis, 
omnibus  ad  quos  praesens  scriptum  pervenerit,  salutem  in  eo  qui  est 


APPENDIX.  375 

vera  salus.  Cum  nuper  suborta  magnaa  difficultatis  controversia  super 
invaliditate  matrimonii,  inter  serenissimum  Henricum  VIII.,  Anglise 
regem,  fidei  defensorem,  et  dominum  Hibernian,  ac  illustrissimam  domi- 
nam  Catharinam  Anglise  reginam,  clarse  memorise  Ferdinand!  regis 
Catholici  filiam,  contract!,  et  carnali  copula  consummati,  ilia  etiam 
nobis  qusestio,  in  justitia,  et  veritate  discutienda  et  examinanda,  pro- 
posita  fuerat,  viz.,  an  ducere  relictam  fratris,  mortui  sine  liberis,  sic 
esset  jure  divino  et  naturali  proh  bitum,  ut  interveniente  summi  ponti- 
fieis  dispensatione  non  possit  fieri  licitum,  ut  quis  Christianus  relictam 
fratris  ducat,  et  habeat  in  uxorem  ?  Nos,  decanus  et  facultas-  ante- 
dicta,  cogitantes  quam  esset  pium,  et  sanctum,  necnon  debito  chari- 
tatis,  et  nostrse  professioni  consentaneum,  ut  his,  qui  in  lege  Domini 
secura  tranquillaque  conscientia  vitam  hanc  ducere  et  transigere  cu- 
piant,  viam  justitiae  ostenderemus,  noluimus  tarn  justis,  et  piis  votis 
deesse.  Hinc,  more  solito,  apud  sedem  S.  Mathurini  per  juramentum 
eonvenientes,  et  solemni  missa  cum  invocatione  Spiritus  Sancti  ob  hoc 
celebrata,  necnon  prsestito  juramento  de  deliberando  super  prsefata, 
quaestione,  secundum  Deum,  et  conscientiam,  post  varias  et  multiplices 
sessiones,  tarn  apud  aedem  S.  Mathurini,  quam  apud  collegium  Sorbonse, 
ab  octavo  Junii,  usque  ad  secundum  Julii,  habitas  et  continuatas,  per- 
serutatis  prius,  excussisque  quam  diligentissime,  ea  qua  decuit  reve- 
rentia  et  religione,  Sacraa  Scripturse  libris,  eorumque  probatissimis  ia- 
terpretibus,  necnon  sacrosanctae  ecclesiaa  generalibus  ac  synodalibus 
conciiiis,  decretis,  et  constitutionibus,  longo  usu  receptis  et  approbatis ; 
nos  praedicti  decanus  et  facultas,  de  prasdicta  quaastione  dissererites,  et 
ad  earn  respondentes,  sequentes  unanime  judicium  et  consensum  ma- 
joris  partis  totius  facultatis,  asseruimus  et  determinavimus,  prout  et  in 
his  scriptis  asserimus  et  determinamus,  quod  praedictae  nuptiaa  cum 
relictis  fratrum,  decedentium  sine  liberis,  sic  naturali  jure,  pariter  et 
divino,  sunt  prohibits,  ut  super  talibus  matrimoniis  contractis,  sive 
contrahendis,  summus  pontifex  dispensare  non  possit.  In  cujus  nostrae 
assertionis  et  determinationis  fidem  et  testimonium,  sigillum  nostrae  fa 
cultatis,  cum  signo  nostri  notarii,  seu  bedelli,  praesentibus  apponi  cura- 
vimus.  Datum  in  generali  nostra  congregatione,  per  juramentum  cele 
brata,  apud  S.  Mathurinum,  anno  Domini  millesimo  quingentesimo 
trigesimo,  mensis  vero  Julii  die  secund  . 

Censura  Universitalis  Tholosance  in  Causa  Dirortii. 
[Rymer,  xiv.  397.] 

Tractabatur  in  nostra  Tholosana  academia  perquam  dimcilis  quajstio, 
Liceatne  fratri  earn,  qua3  jam  olim  defuncto  fratri  uxor  fuerat  (nullis 
tamen  relictis  liberis),  in  matrimonio  sibi  conjungere  ?  Accedetiat  et 


376  APPENDIX. 

alius  scrupulus,  qui  nos  potissimum  torquebat,  an,  si  Romanus  poutifex, 
cui  est  commissa  gregis  Christian!  cura,  id  sua  quam  vocamus  dispen- 
satione  permittat,  tune  saltern  liceat  ?  Ad  utramque  qusestionem  agi- 
tandam  doctores  omnes  regentes,  qui  tune  Tholosag  aderant  coegit  rec 
tor  noster  in  concilium.  Neque  id  semel  tan  turn,  sed  etiam  iterum, 
quippe  existimans  praecipitari  non  oportere  consilia,  indigereque  nos 
tempore,  ut  aliquid  maturius  agamus.  Demum  cum  in  unum  locum 
convenissent  omnes,  turn  sacrarum  literarum  disertissimi  interpretes,  turn 
utriusque  censures  consultissimi,  denique  qui  quavis  in  re,  et  judicio  et 
oratione  viri  fcelicibus  ingeniis  non  mediocriter  exercitati  essent;  ac  sese 
sacrosanctis  conciliis  parere  velle,  sanctorumque  patrum,  haudquaquam 
piis  animis  violanda,  decreta  imitari,  jurassent ;  et  unusquisque  suam 
sententiam  protulisset,  atque  in  utramque  partem  diffuse  decertatum 
esset ;  tandem  in  earn  sententiam  sic  frequentius  itum  est,  ut  uno  om 
nium  ore  alma  nostra  universitas  animis  sincerissimis,  nulloque  fermento 
vitiatis,  censuerit  jure  divino,  pariter  et  naturali,  uxorem  relictam  fratris 
sui  nemini  licere  accipere.  At,  postquam  id  lege  eadem  non  licet,  re- 
sponsum  est,  non  posse  pontificem  aliquem  ea  lege  solvere.  Nee  huic 
sententiae  refragari  potest,  quod  cogeretur  olim  frater  uxorem  demortui 
fratris  accipere.  Nam  hoc  figura  erat,  atque  umbra  futurorum,  qua3 
omnia,  adveniente  luce  et  veritate  evangelii,  evanuerunt.  Haec,  quoniam 
ita  se  habent,  in  hanc  formam  redegimus,  et  per  notarium,  qui  nobis  est 
a  secretis,  signari,  sigillique  authentic!  ejusdem  nostrse  almae  matris  uni- 
versitatis  jussimus  appensione  communiri.  Tholosae,  decimo  quinto 
calend.  Octob.  anno  a  Christo  nato  1530. 

No.  XXIV.— (Referred  fa  at  page  202.) 

Centura  Facultatis  sacrce  Theologies  Universitatis  Bononiensis  in  Causa 

Divortii. 
[Rymer,  xiv.  393.] 

Cum  Deus  optimus  maximus  veterem  legem  nedum  ad  morum  vitoeque 
informationem  ac  institutionem  ore  suo  tradiderit,  idemque,  humanitate 
sumpta,  mortalium  Redemptor  Deus  novum  condiderit  testamentum, 
sed  ad  dubia,  quae  in  multis  emergebant,  tollenda  declarandaque  con- 
tulerit,  qua3  ad  hominum  perfectionem  elucidata  nonnihil  conferunt, 
nostras  partes  semper  fore  duximus,  hujusmodi  sanctissimi  Patris  aeterni 
documenta  sectari,  et  in  rebus  arduis  ac  dubitalibus,  superno  illustrate 
lumine,  nostram  ferre  sententiam,  ubi  causa  mature  consulta,  multisque 
hinc  inde  rationibus  scriptisque  patrum  dilucidata  fuerit,  nihil  quoad 
possumus  in  aliquo  temere  ferentes.  Cum  itaque  nos  praestantes  quidam 
et  clarissimi  viri  obnixe  rogarint,  ut  subsequentem  casum  maxima  dili- 
gentia  perserutaremur,  nostrumque  subinde  in  eum  judicium  ferremus 


APPENDIX.  3/7 

aequissime,  soli  veritati  innitentes,  in  unum  omnes  almae  universitatis 
hujus  doctores  theologi  convenimus,  casu  prius  per  unumquemque  nos 
trum  sigillatim  domibus  propriis  examinato,  summaque  solertia  per  dies 
plurimos  contrectato,  ilium  una  mox  vidimus,  examinavimus,  contuli- 
mus,  ad  amussimque  singula  quaeque  pertractantes  ponderavimus,  ra- 
tiones  quasque  contrarias,  quas  fieri  posse  censuimus,  in  medium  affie- 
rentes,  atque  solventes,  etiam  ipsius  reverendissimi  D.  D.  cardinalis 
Cajetani,  nee  non  Deuteronomicam  dispensationem,  de  fratris  suscitando 
semine,  et  reliquas  tandem  omnes  sententias  oppositas,  quae  ad  id  ne- 
gotii  facere  viderentur.  Quaesitum  est  igitur  a  nobis,  an  ex  sola  eccle- 
siae  institutione,  vel  etiam  jure  divino,  prohibitum  fuerit,  ne  quis  relictam 
a  fratre  sine  liberis  in  uxorem  ducere  valeat  ?  Quod,  si  utraque  lege 
ne  fieri  possit,  cautum  est,  an  quenquam  possit  beatissimus  pontifex 
super  hujusmodi  contrahendo  matrimonio  dispensare  ?  Qua  diligentis- 
sime  (ut  diximus)  ac  exactissime  seorsim  palamque  examinata,  ac,  pro 
viribus  nostris,  optime  discussa  quaestione,  censemus,  judicamus,  dici- 
mus,  constantissime  testamur,  et  indubie  affirmamus,  hujusmodi  matri- 
monium,  tales  nuptias,  tale  conjugium  horrendum  fore,  execrabile,  de- 
testandum,  viroque  Christiano,  imo  etiam  cuilibet  infideli,  prorsus  abo- 
minabile,  esseque  a  jure  naturae,  divino,  et  humano,  dins  poems  prohi 
bitum  ;  nee  posse  sanctissimum  papam  (qui  tamen  fere  omnia  potest) 
cui  collatae  sunt  a  Christo  claves  regni  ccelorum,  non  inquam  posse 
aliqua  ex  causa  super  hujusmodi  contrahendo  matrimonio  quenquam 
dispensare :  ad  cujus  conclusionis  veritatem  tutandam  omnes,  in  omriia 
loca  et  tempora,  parati  sumus.  In  quorum  fidem,  has  scripsimus,  al- 
maeque  nostrse  universitatis,  ac  sacri  venerabilium  theologorum  collegii 
sigillo  munivimus,  solita  nostra  generali  subscriptione  signantes.  Bo- 
noniae,  in  ecclesia  cathedrali,  sub  D.  Clementis  VII.  pontificatu. 

Censura  Universitatis  Pataviensis  in  Causa  Divortii. 
[Rymer,  xiv.  398]. 

Testantur  qui  catholicam  fidem  astruunt,  Deum  optimum  maximum 
legis  veteris  prsecepta  filiis  Israel  ad  exemplar  vitae,  ac  morum  nostro- 
rum  institutionem,  ore  proprio  tradidisse,  eundemque,  trabea  humani- 
tatis  indutum  Redemptorem  omnium  factum,  novum  testamentum  con- 
didisse ;  et  nedum  propter  hoc,  sed  ad  dubia  quaecunque  emergentia 
removenda,  dilucidandaque,  nobis  misericorditer  condonasse,  quae  ad 
nostri  perfectionem  enucleata  fructus  uberes  conferant,  et  salutares. 
Nostrum  semper  fuit,  eritque  per  secula  (uti  Christicolas  decet)  hujus 
modi  celebratissima  summi  opificis  instituta  sectari ;  et  in  quibusque 
dubietatibus,  ac  arduis  qusestionibus,  supernaturali  lumine  freti,  nos- 


378  APPENDIX. 

trum  proferre  judicium,  ubi  res  ipsa  optime  considerata,  multisque 
hinc  inde  demonstrationibus,  atque  patrum  authoritatibus,  mature  de- 
clarata  fuerit,  temere,  quoad  possumus,  nihil  omnino  judicantes.  Cum 
igitur  nos  quidam  oratores  clarissimi  suppliciter  exorarint,  ut  subse- 
quentem  casum  diligentissime  perscrutari  dignaremur,  atque  nostram 
ferremus  subinde  sententiam,  soli  veritati  simpliciter  attendentes ;  qua 
ex  re  omnes  hujus  almsa  universitatis  doctores  theologi  insimul  conve- 
nimus,  re  ipsa  prius  per  nostrum  quemlibet  particulariter  propriis  do- 
mibus  examinata,  summaque  solertia  enucleata.  mox,  in  unum  redacti, 
cuncta  consideravimus,  examinavimus,  omniaque  sigillatim  pondera- 
vimus,  argumenta  quaeque  contraria,  quae  fieri  quoquo  modo  posse 
putavimus,  adducentes,  atque  integerrime  dissolventes,  necnon  Deute- 
ronomicam  dispensationem  de  fratris  suscitando  semine,  et  reliquas 
omnes  rationes,  atque  sententias  oppositas,  quse  ad  id  facere  videbantur. 
Qusestio  igitur  talis  nobis  fuit  exposita  ;  an  ex  sola  sanctae  matris  eccle- 
sisD  institutione  vel  etiam  de  jure  divino,  prohibitum  fuerit,  ne  quis 
relictam  a  fratre,  absque  liberis,  in  uxorem  ducere  valeat.  Quod  si 
utrobique  fieri  nequeat,  cautum  est,  an  beatissimus  pontifex  super 
hujusmodi  contrahendo  matrimonio  quenquam  dispensare  legitime 
possit  ?  Quo  exactissime  (ut  dictum  est)  seorsim  publiceque  discusso, 
ac  pro  viribus  dilucidato  qusesito,  dicimus,  judicamus,  decernimus,  at- 
testamur,  atque  [veridice  affirmamus,  matrimonium  hujusmodi,  tale 
conjugium,  et  tales  nuptias  nullas  esse,  imo  detestabiles  atque  exe- 
crandas,  Christianoque  cuilibet  esse  profanas,  et  utscelus  abominandum, 
crudelissimis  pcenis  jure  naturae,  divino,  et  humano,  clarissime  esse  pro- 
hibitas;  nee  beatissimum  pontificem,  cui  claves  regni  ccelestis  a 
Christo  Dei  filio  sunt  collataa,  ulla  ex  causa  posse  super  tali  matri 
monio  contrahendo  quenquam  juridice  dispensare,  cum  ilia,  quae  sunt  a 
jure  divino  prohibita,  non  subsint  ejus  potestati,  nee  in  ilia  gerit  vicem 
Dei,  sed  solum  super  ea  quse  sunt  commissa  jurisdiction!  hominum.  Ad 
cujus  sententise  conclusionisque  veritatem  tutandam,  et  ejusdem  certis- 
simam  defensionem,  nos  unanimes  semper  et  ubique  parati  sumus.  In 
quorum  fidem,  has  nostras  fecimus,  almseque  universitatis  nostras  ac 
sacri  reverendorum  theologorum  collegii  sigillo  solito  commuriivimus. 
Datum  Padua3,  in  ecclesia  heremitarum  S.  Augustini,  die  primo  Julii, 
1530. 

No.  XXV.— (Referred  to  at  page  204.) 

Letter  from  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal,  and  certain  Commons  in 
Parliament,  to  Pope  Clement  VII.     July  13,  1530. 

[Rymer,  xiv.  405.] 

Sanctissimo  in  Christo  patri,  et  domino  domino  Clementi,  divina  pro- 
videntia  ejus  nominis  papae  septimo,  osculatis  pedibus  omni  cum  humili- 


APPENDIX.  379 

tate,  felicitatem  precamur  et  optamus  perpetuam,  in  Domino  nostro 
Jesu  Christo.  Beatissime  pater,  tametsi  causa  matrimonialis  invictissimi 
et  serenissimi  principis  domini  nostri,  Anglise  Franciseque  regis,  Fidei 
Defensoris,  et  domini  Hibernise,  multis  ipsa  per  se  argumentis  vestrre 
sanctitatis  opem  imploret  atque  efflagitet,  ut  ilium  quam  celerrime  finem 
accipiat,  quern  nos,  summo  desiderio,  jam  diu  desideravimus,  et  longa, 
sed  hactenus  vana,  spe  a  vestra  sanctitate  expectavimus,  non  potuimus 
tamen  committere,  ut,  rebus  nostris  regnique  statu  ex  hac  litis  protela- 
tione  in  tan  turn  discrimen  adducto,  omnino  sileremus ;  sed  quod  regia 
majestas  (nostrum  caput,  atque  adeo  anima  omnium  nostrum,  et  in 
cujus  verbis  nos,  tanquam  membra  conformia,  justa  compagine  capiti 
coha3rentia,  multa  solicitudine  vestram  sanctitatem  precati,  et  frustra 
tamen  precati  sumus),  id  nos  literis  nostris,  doloris  gravitate  adacti, 
seorsim  et  separatim  nunc  flagitaremus.  Sufficere  sane  alioqui  debu- 
isset  causse  ipsius  justitia,  eruditissimorum  virorum  calculis  passim  pro- 
bata,  celeberrimarum  academiarum  suffrages  judicata,  ab  Anglis,  a 
Gallis,  ab  Italis,  prout  quisque  apud  eos  cseteros  eruditione  antecellit, 
pronuntiata  et  definita,  ut  sanctitas  vestra,  etiam  nemine  petente,  et  re- 
clamantibus  quibuscumque,  suo  ore  suaque  authoritate  aliorum  senten- 
tias  confirmaret ;  prscsertim  cum  causa}  definitio  eum  regem,  illud  reg- 
num  respiciat,  quod  de  sede  ilia  apostolica  tarn  multis  nominibus  bene 
meritum  sit :  precibus  autem  nihil  opus  fuisset,  nisi  quatenus  homines 
doloribus  indulgent,  et  preces  non  necessarias  interdum  effundere  solent. 
Cseterum  quum  apud  sanctitatem  vestram  nee  ipsius  causa3  justitia,  nee 
beneficiorum  acceptorum  recordatio,  nee  optimi  principis  tarn  assiduse 
et  diligentes  preces  quicquam  profecerint,  ut  obtineatur  a  vobis  quod 
paternre  pietatis  officium  exigebat,  adauctus  supra  modum  in  nobis,  mi- 
seriarum  ac  calamitatum  recordatione,  doloris  cumulus  singula  etiam 
reipubliea}  nostra3  membra  vocalia  facit,  et  verbis  et  literis  conques- 
tionem  edere  compellit.  Nam  quse  tandem  infelicitas,  ut  quod  duo> 
academisB  nostrsa,  quod  academia  Parisiensis,  quod  multse  alise  acade- 
mise  in  Gallia,  quod  passim  doctissimi,  eruditissimi,  et  integerrimi  viri 
domi  forisque  verum  affirmant,  et  pro  vero  defendere,  tarn  verbis  quam 
calamo,  se  paratos  ostendunt,  id  pro  vero  non  obtineat  a  sede  aposto 
lica  ille  princeps,  cujus  ope  atque  praesidio  sua  stat  sedi  apostolicse 
authoritas,  a  tarn  multis,  ac  populis  etiam  potentissimis,  tarn  valide  im- 
petita,  quibus,  partim  ferro,  partim  calamo,  partim  voce  atque  authori 
tate,  sa3pius  in  ea  causa  restitit ;  et  tamen  solus  illius  authoritatis  bene- 
ficio  non  fruitur,  qui  curavit  ut  esset  qua  alii  fruerentur.  His  quid 
responderi  posset  non  videmus,  et  malorum  interim  pelagus  reipublicse 
nostrae  imminere  cernimus,  ac  certum  quoddam  diluvium  comminari, 
aut,  quod  diluvio  par  est,  multa  csede  ac  sanguine  restinctam  olim  sue- 


380  APPENDIX. 

cessionis  coutroversiam  denuo  reducere.  Habernus  enim  summis  vir- 
tutibus  principem,  certissimo  titulo  regem,  indubitatam  tranquillitatem 
regno  daturum,  si  sobolem  ex  corpore  masculam  nobis  reliquerit,  cujus 
in  vero  matrimonio  sola  spes  esse  potest :  matrimonio  autem  vero  tan- 
turn  illud  nunc  obstat,  ut  quod  de  priori  matrimonio  tot  docti  viri  pro- 
nuntiant,  id  utique  vestra  sanctitas  sua  authoritate  declaret.  Hoc 
autem  si  non  vult,  et,  qui  pater  esse  debeat,  nos  tanquam  orphan os  re- 
linquere  decrevit,  et  pro  abjectis  habere,  ita  certe  interpretabimur 
nostri  nobis  curam  esse  relictam,  et  aliunde  nobis  rernedia  conquire- 
mus.  Sed  ad  hoc  ne  adigamur,  sanctitatem  vestram  oramus  ut  regi 
nostro  in  tarn  sanctis  desideriis  adesse,  et  sine  mora  aut  dilatione  favere 
velit,  vehementer  obsecramus  ut  judicio  suo  comprobet  quod  doctissimi 
viri  affirmant,  per  illam  quam  nobis  ex  pastorali  officio  debet  pietatem 
ex  mutuo  cordis  affectu  obtestamur,  ne  claudantur  paterna  viscera  tarn 
obsequentibus,  tarn  benevolis.  tarn  morigeris  filiis.  Causa  regiee  majes- 
tatis  nostra  cuj  usque  propria  est,  a  capite  in  membra  derivata;  dolor  ad 
omnes  atque  injuria  ex  sequo  pertinet ;  omnes  in  ejus  majestate  compa- 
timur,  quibus  facile  sanctitas  vestra  mederi  posset,  nee  posset  modo,  sed 
ex  paterna  pietate  deberet ;  quod,  si  vel  id  non  fecerit,  vel  facere  qui- 
dem  distulerit  sanctitas  vestra,  hactenus  sane  conditio  nostra  erit  mise- 
rior,  quod  tamdiu  sine  fructu  frustra  laboratum  sit,  sed  non  omni 
prorsus  remedio  destituta. 

Sunt  quidem  remedia  extrema  semper  duriora,  sed  morbum  omnino 
utcunque  levare  curat  segrotus,  et  in  malorum  commutatione  nonnihil 
est  spei,  ut,  si  minus  succedat  quod  bonum  est,  sequatur  saltern  quod 
est  minus  malum,  et  id  temporis  etiam  cursu  facile  tolerandum :  ista 
autem  ut  secum  consideret  sanctitas  vestra,  iterum  atque  iterum  roga- 
mus  in  Domino  Jesu  Christo,  cujus  vices  in  terris  se  gerere  profitetur, 
idque  ut  nunc  factis  conetur  ostendere ;  ut  veritatem  doctissimorum 
hominum  vigiliis  ac  laboribus  inventam,  probatam,  et  confirmatam,  ad 
Dei  laudem  et  gloriam  sua  sententia  et  pronunciatione  velit  illustrare. 
Interim  vero  Deum  optimum  maximum,  quern  ipsam  esse  veritatem 
certissimo  testimonio  cognoscimus,  comprecabimur,,  ut  vestrae  sancti- 
tatis  consilia  ita  informare  atque  dirigere  dignetur,  ut,  quod  sanctum, 
justum,  ac  verum  est  a  vestrse  sanctitatis  authoritate  obtinentes,  ab 
omni  alia  assequendae  veritatis  molestia  liberemur. 

[The  above  is  signed  by  two  archbishops,  two  dukes,  two  marquesses, 
thirteen  earls,  four  bishops,  twenty- seven  barons,  twenty-two  abbots, 
and  eleven  commoners.] 


APPENDIX.  381 

No.  XXVI.— (Referred  to  at  page  205.J 

Pope  Clement,  in  answer  to  the  preceding.     September  27,  1530. 
[Collier,  ii.  Rec.  p.  10.] 

CLEMENS  PAPA  VII. 

Venerabiles  fratres,  et  dilecti  filii,  salutem  et  apostolicam  benedic- 
tionem.  Multa  sunt  in  vestris  literis  de  xiii°  Julii  datis,  ac  nobis  supe- 
rioribus  diebus  redditis,  quae  gravius  accepissimus,  nisi  ea  affectui  stu- 
dioque  vestro  erga  charissiraum  in  Christo  filium  nostrum,  regem 
vestrum,  condonanda  arbitraremur.  Itaque  sedato  animo  ad  eas  literas 
respondebimus,  tantum  ut  docearaus  quam  immerito  de  nobis  conquesti 
sitis,  neque  oportuisse  tantum  a  vobis  tribui  privato  erga  regem  sive 
officio,  sive  amori  vestro,  ut  nos  duobus,  ingrati  adversus  serenitatem 
suam  animi  ac  denegatce  justitiae,  gravissimis  nominibus  incusaretis. 
Nos  quidem  agnoscimus  regem  vestrum  ea  omnia,  quse  in  vestris  literis 
enumeratis,  ac  multa  etiam  plura  promeritum,  manebitque  perpetuo 
non  modo  apud  nos,  sed  ad  posteros  nostros,  memoria  ejus  in  sedem 
apostolicam  meritorum.  Fatemurque  nos  non  modo  pontificia3  personse, 
quam  gerimus,  sed  privato  nostro  nomine  tantum  serenitati  suse  debere, 
ut  nunquam  beneficiis  parem  gratiam  relaturi  videamur.  Sed  quod 
attinet  ad  controversiam,  qua3  de  matrimonio  est,  inter  serenitatem  suam 
et  Catharinam  reginam,  tantum  abest,  ut,  denegando  justitiam,  regis  spem 
frustrari  voluerimus,  ut  ultro  abaltera  parte  tanquam  plus  aequo  in  par- 
tes  majestatis  suse  propensi  reprehendamur.  Sed,  ut  paulo  altius  perpe- 
tuum  animi  nostri  erga  regem  vestrum  tenorem  repetamus,  cum  pri- 
mum,  tribus  ferme  abhinc  annis,  regii  oratores  ad  nos  hanc  causam  de- 
tulissent,  animi  nostri  propensionem,  potius  quam  juris  rigorem,  secuti, 
commissimus  illam  dilectis  filiis  nostris,  Thomas  cardinali  S.  Cecilia 
Eboracensi,  in  regno  Anglise  legato,  et  Laurentio  cardinali  S.  Marise  in 
Trans- Tiberim  Campeggio,  a  nostro  latere  misso,  presbyteris  cardinali- 
bus,  in  regno,  atque  adeo  domi,  ipsius  regis  audiendam  et  terminandam ; 
satisfecimusque  turn,  quantum  in  nobis  fuit,  serenitatis  SUSB  voluntati. 
Verum,  cum  regina  suspectum  illud  in  partibus  judicium  habere  csepis- 
set,  et  a  gravaminibus,  sibi,  ut  dicebat,  per  eosdem  legates  illatis,  ad 
sedem  apostolicam  appellasset,  procuratoribus  etiam  ad  dictam  appel- 
lationem  prosequendam  constitutis,  ne  turn  quidem  desiderari  passi 
sumus  nostram  erga  ipsum  regem  benevolentiam.  Nam  tametsi  causaa 
hujusmodi  appellationis  commissio  negari  non  poterat,  tamen  concordia 
potius  quam  via  juris  terminari  hanc  controversiam  cupientes,  omnes 
moras  in  commissione  dictse  causse  appellationis  concedenda  interposui- 
mus,  eo  praatextu,  quod  esset  de  majoribus  causis,  meritoque  ad  consis- 
torium  rejicienda.  Habita  vero  deinde  super  hoc  cum  venerabilibus 


382  APPENDIX. 

fratribus  nostris,  S.  R.  E.  cardinalibus,   aliquoties  consultatione,  fuit 
aliquamdiu  dilatum  negotium  :    sed  tandem  unanimi  omnium  cardina- 
lium  voto  conclusum  est,  commissionem  causse  appellationis  hujus- 
modi  per  nos  negari  non  posse.  Itaque  commissa  est,  audienda,  et  sub- 
inde  in  dicto  consistorio  nobis  referenda  et   terminanda.     Nam  cum 
omnibus  in  rebus  considerate  procedere  debemus,  turn  in  hac  potissi- 
mum  quse  regias  et  illustres  personas  tangit,  et  in  quam  totius  christi- 
anitatis  oculos  conjectos  esse  videmus.    Post  quae,  deinde  nullus  regius 
legitimus  procurator  comparuit,  qui,  aut  scripto  aut  verbo,  de  juribus 
regis  doceret ;  ideoque  factum,  ut  lis  adhuc  decidi  non  potuerit ;  quippe 
cum  ex  actis  et  productis,  non  ex  amore  et  benevolentia,  decidenda  sit. 
Quamobrem,  nulla  causa  est,  cur  nobis  ascribatis  litis  quam  dicitis  pro- 
telationem,  de  qua  miramur  vos  queri,  cum  illam  oratores  ipsius  regis 
alibi,  et  praesertim  Bononise,  a  nobis  petierint  et  impetrarint,  invitissi- 
mis  quidem  et  reclamantibus  reginse  procuratoribus.    Cum  itaque  nun- 
quam  per  nos  steterit,  quin  hsec  lis,  omnibus  rebus  mature  discussis, 
terminaretur,  non  videmus  quibus  rationibus  nitatur  querimonia  vestra ; 
nisi  forte  id  dicitis,  tot  esse  regis  erga  nos  ac  sedem  apostolicam  bene- 
ficia,  ut  quoquo  modo  in  ejus  voluntatem  causam  difFmiri  oportuerit; 
id  enim  ostenditis  satis  aperte,  cum  dicitis,  in  causa  ab  eruditissimis  viris, 
Anglis,  Gallis,  Italis,  ac  tot  academiarum  sufFragiis  probata,  et  jam  nemi- 
nepetente,ac  reclamantibus  quibuscumque,sententiam  anobisferridebu- 
isse.  Qua  in  re  non  parum  prudentiam  et  modestiam  vestram  requirimus. 
Nam  non  videmus,  quibus  rationibus  freti  postuletis,  ut  in  causa  max- 
imi  momenti  sententiam  feramus,  nemine  petente,  ac  cseteris  reclaman 
tibus,  cum  adversa  pars  continue  opponat  totius  christianitatis  scandalum, 
tot   annorum  matrimoninm   ad  supplicationem  clarissimorum   regum 
Henrici  patris  ac  Ferdinandi  Catholici,  ex  dispensatione  hujus  sanctso 
sedis  constitutum ;  prceterea  filium  extantem  et  plures  reginae  partus  ; 
et,  adversus  opiniones  doctorum  quas  pro   vobis  allegatis,  multorum 
etiam  ipsi    doctorum  gravissimorumque  virorum  judicium,  et  pro    se 
facientia  divini  juris  mandata  adducant,  argumentis  haustis,  non  modo 
ex  latinis,   sed  etiam  ex  uberrimis  in  hac   re  Haebreorum  fontibus; 
nobis  tamen  in  neutram  adhuc  partem  inclinantibus,  sed  aequas  aures 
prsebentibus,  cum  causam  hanc  gravissimam  et  ad  totam  rempublicam 
christianam  ac  posteritatem  omnem  pertinere  existimemus.     Nam  ex 
iis,  quas  pro   nobis  facere   doctorum   hominum  atque  universitatum 
opiniones  scribitis,  paucse  admodum  venerunt  in  manus  nostras,  nobis 
non   legitime,  nee  regis   nomine,  ab  oratoribus  preesentataB ;  illeeque 
nudae  tantum  illorum  hominurn  opiniones,  nullis  ascriptis  rationibus  cur 
ita  sentiant,   nullaque  sacrorum  canonum  et  scripturae,   quae  tantum 
spectare  debemus,  authoritate  subnixse.     Postulare  autem,  ut,  in  regis 


APPENDIX.  383 

gratiam,  quicquam  temere  atque  inconsiderate  statuamus,  nee  aequum, 
nee  vestra  sapientia  dignum  est :  nam  tametsi  multum  serenitati  suae 
debemus,  tamen,  in  judicando,  pluris  facere  cogemur  eum,  per  quern 
reges  regnant,  et  principes  imperant ;  et  veri  patris  officium  est  prospi- 
cere,  ne  nimia  facilitate  plus  eequo  indulgeamus  filiis  nostris :  irretire- 
mus  enim  non  solum  nostram,  sed  serenitatis  suae  conscientiam,  imma- 
tura  sententia,  qua?,  non  recte  probata,  pernicioso  universes  christiani- 
tati  noceret  exemplo.  Nam  quod  regno  vestro  diluvium  impendere 
dicitis,  id  multo  magis  timendum  esse  arbitraremur,  si  sententiam,  quae 
recta  j  ustitiae  via  ac  ratione  ferenda  est,  praecipitaremus,  ac  nimio  erga 
regem  vestrum  amore  provecti,  a  justitia  atque  officio  nostro  discede- 
remus.  Masculam  autem  prolem  non  vos  magis  optatis  quam  nos 
serenitati  suae :  atque  utinam  tanto  regi  similes  filios,  ac  non  regni 
tantum,  sed  etiam  virtutum,  haeredes  haberet  Christiana  respublica ! 
Sed  pro  Deo  non  sumus,  ut  liberos  dare  possimus.  Quod  autem  di 
citis,  nolle  nos  auctoritate  nostra  secundum  veritatem  de  priore  matri- 
monio  declarare  quod  tot  docti  viri  pro  ipso  rege  pronuncient,  vellemus 
nos  quidem  omnibus  in  rebus  serenitati  suai  gratificari ;  posse  autem 
ita  debemus,  ut  non  destruamus :  destrueremus  enim  si  quid  contra 
juris  ordinem  statueremus,  etiamsi  oculis  nostris  exploratissima  res 
esset.  Casterum,  quod  est  in  extreme  literarum  vestrarum,  nisi  peti- 
tionibus  vestris  satisfecerimus,  vos  existimaturos  vestri  vobis  curam 
esse  relictam,  atque  aliunde  remedia  conquisituros,  nee  vestra  pruden- 
tia  nee  religione  dignum  consilium,  ab  eoque  ut  abstineatis  paterna 
charitate  vos  monemus.  Nee  tamen  ulla  medici  culpa  esset,  si  aegrotus, 
curatioriis  impatiens,  quicquam  in  se  statuerit,  quod  adversaretur  saluti. 
Nos  quidem,  quse  recte  ac  sine  pernicie  dari  possunt,  remedia  non 
denegamus.  Quis  enim  infirmatur,  et  ego  non  infirmor  P  Quis  scan- 
dalizatur,  et  ego  non  uror  ?  Os  nostrum  patet  ad  vos,  filii  dilectissimi, 
et  vos  ut  filios  charissimos  monemus.  Sed  nee  regem  ipsum,  cujus 
causam  agitis,  probaturum  fuisse  credimus,  ut  ita  scriberetis  :  cognitam 
enim  et  perspectam  habemus  ejus  probitatem,  ut  ne  ultro  quidem  ob- 
latum,  quod  aequum  non  esset,  accepturum  fuisse  putemus :  et  tametsi 
vestrum  omnium  intercessionem  magnifacimus,  tamen  noster  erga 
serenitatem  suam  amor  non  patitur  se  cuj  usque  cohortatione  precibus- 
que  excitari :  nee  meminimus  frustra  unquam  serenitatem  suam  a  nobis 
petiise  quod  cum  nostro  et  hujus  sancta?  sedis  honore  concedere  pos- 
semus,  paremque  ostendemus  perpetuo  voluntatem.  Denique,  quod 
ad  hanc  causam  attinet,  nos  quidem  nullam  ejus  expedition!  moram 
interponemus,  quin  cum  instructa,  et  partes  auditae  fuerint,  terminetur ; 
nobis  summopere  cupientibus  vestrum  regem,  et  ipsam  reginam,  nos- 
que  ipsos  molestissimo  hoc  negotio  liberari.  Hoc  tantum  a  serenitato 


384  APPENDIX. 

sua  et  devotion ibus  vestris  requirimus,  ne  plus,  ob  summa  ejusdem  regis 
beneficia,  a  nobis  exigatis,  quam  quod  sine  offensa  Dei  persolvere 
possimus;  cum  in  caeteris  omnia  a  nobis  expectare  possitis,  quae, 
habita  officii,  ac  personae  quam  gerimus,  et  justitiae  ratione,  expectari 
debent.  Datum  Romae,  apud  S.  Petrum,  sub  annulo  piscatoris,  die 
xxvii  Septembris,  MDXXX. 

No.  XXVII.— (Referred  to  at  page  206.) 

Jl  Form  of  calling  the  Convocation  since  the  time  of  the  Statutes  of  Pro- 
visors  and  Appeals. 
[Fuller,  Ch.  Hist  190.] 

Rex,  &c. — Reverendissimo  in  Christo  patri  A.  Cantuariensi  archi- 
episcopo,  totius  Angliae  primati,  et  apostolicae  sedis  legato,  salutem. 
Quibusdam  arduis,  et  urgentibus  negotiis  defensionem  et  securitatem 
ecclesia?  Anglicanae,  ac  pacem,  tranquillitatem,  et  bonum  publicum,  et 
defensionem  regni  nostri,  et  subditorum  nostrorum  ejusdem,  concernen- 
tibus,  vobis,  in  fide  et  dilectione  quibus  nobis  tenemini,  rogando  man 
damus,  quatenus,  praemissis  debito  intuitu  attends  et  ponderatis,  uni- 
versos  et  singulos  episcopos  vestrae  provincial,  ac  decanos,  et  praecones 
ecclesiarum  cathedralium,  abbates,  priores,  et  alios  electivos,  exemptos, 
et  non  exemptos,  nee  non  archidiaconos,  conventus,  capitula,  et  col 
legia,  totumque  clerum  cujuslibet  diocesis  ejusdem  provinciae,  ad  con- 
veniendum  coram  vobis  in  ecclesia  Sancti  Pauli  Londini,  vel  alibi,  prout 
melius  expedire  videritis,  cum  omni  celeritate  accomoda  modo  debito 
convocari  faciatis,  ad  tractandum,  consentiendum,  et  concludendum 
super  praemissis,  et  aliis,  quae  sibi  clarius  proponentur  tune  et  ibidem,  ex 
parte  nostra.  Et  hoc,  sicut  nos,  et  statum  regni  nostri,  et  honorem  et 
utilitatem  ecclesiae  praedictae  diligitis,  nullatenus  omittatis.  Teste  me- 
ipso,  &c. 

No.  XXVIII.— (Referred  to  at  page  207.) 
Despatch  from  Dr.  Eennet  to  Henry  VIII.     October  27,  1530. 

[Original  in  my  possession.] 

Pleasyth  yt  your  hyghnes  to  understond,  that,  the  thyrd  day  of  thys 
monthe,  Alexander,  the  curror,  arryved  here,  of  whom  I  recevyd  a 
pacquet  of  letters  from  Mr.  Welsborn,  your  hyghnes'  ambassator  resi 
dent  yn  the  Frenche  court,  and,  withyn  the  same,  your  gracious  letter 
to  my  lord  of  Woorceter,1  M.  Gregori,2  and  to  me ;  and  also  too  doubles, 
oon  of  the  Frenche  kyng's  letter  to  the  pope,  the  other  of  the  Frenche 
kyng's  instructions  to  hys  ambassator  resident  here.  In  the  same  morn- 

1  Jerome  de  Nugutiis,  bishop  of  Worcester.  2  Gregorio  da  Casali. 


APPENDIX.  385 

yng,  cardinal  Tarbe1  Iiad  takyn  hys  leve  of  the  pope ;  and  the  next 
mornyng  followyng,  the  pope  dyd  depart  from  hens  to  Hostia.  And, 
at  the  same  tyme,  the  Frenche  kyng's  letter  to  the  pope,  and  hys  in 
structions  to  hys  ambassator  here  resident  war  nat  cume ;  whyche  was 
to  us  a  great  dyscomfort ;  for  asmoche  as  we  thowght  the  seyd  cardinal 
woold  have  departed  before  the  seyd  letter  and  instructions  schuld  have 
cume  hether,  for  he  was  apoynted  to  have  departyd  withyn  thre  dayes 
after,  whois  presence,  for  hys  authorite  here  and  favor,  that  the  pope 
hathe  hym  yn,  myght  have  helpyd  muche  to  the  soner  obteynyng  of  any 
of  the  degreis  conteynyd  withyn  the  seyd  instructions.  Wherfor  yt 
semyd  to  my  lord  of  Woorceter,  and  to  me,  good  that  we  schuld,  the 
same  nyght  that  we  recevyd  your  grace's  letter,  with  the  foreseyd 
doubles,  conferre  with  my  lord  of  Tarbe  apon  al  suche  thyngs  that  war 
conteynyd  yn  the  foreseyd  instructions,  to  thentent  that  he  myght,  yn 
the  mornyng  next  followyng,  before  the  pope's  departure,  as  of  hymself, 
schew  unto  the  pope  that  he  had  an  inklyng,  that  the  Frenche  kyng  was 
utterly  bent,  and  fully  determyned,  to  joyne  with  your  hyghnes  yn  thys 
your  great  cawse,  so  and  after  suche  schort,  that  yff  hys  holynes  wuld 
satisfie  your  hyghnes  yn  thys  your  great  cawse,  the  Frenche  kyng  woold 
accept  the  same  as  thankefully  as  thowghe  yt  war  don  to  hym  self;  and 
otherwyse,  yn  nat  satisfiyng  your  hyghnes,  he  woold  nat  alonly  take  yt 
for  an  unkyndnes,  but  also  for  an  injuri,  whyche  he  woold  study  to  re 
venge,  as  thowghe  yt  had  byn  don  to  hym  self :  And  also  to  schew  the 
pope  that  the  Frenche  kyng  had  wryten  to  hys  holynes  yn  thys  mater, 
whyche  schortly  schuld  be  here.  Wherfor  the  cardinal  consideryng  the 
great  importance  of  thys  union,  betwyxt  your  hyghnes  and  the  Frenche 
kyng,  schuld,  as  cardinal  and  member  of  thys  see,  advertyse  the  pope 
hereof,  to  thentent  that  hys  holynes  schuld  ponder  the  great  importance 
of  thys  union,  and  study  to  satisfie  your  bothe  desyres,  and  so  to  kepe 
yow  bothe  yn  your  old  devotion  and  frendshyp  towards  hym  and  thys 
see  :  schewyng  the  comodites  that  therby  myght  undowghtydly  folow, 
bothe  to  hys  person  and  hys  see,  and  to  the  tranquillite  of  al  chrystyn- 
dome.  And,  on  the  other  syde,  yff  hys  holynes  woold  nat  satisfie  your 
desyres,  he  schuld  schew  unto  hym,  that  therby  hys  holynes  schuld 
utterly  lose  bothe  your  frendshypps,  wherof  moo  yllis,  inconveniences, 
and  ruinis  myght  folow,  then,  at  that  present  tyme,  hys  holynes  myght 
excogitate.  Wyche  thyng  the  seyde  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  did,  as  he  seyde, 
effectuusly.  To  the  whyche,  as  the  seyd  cardinal  schewed  unto  us,  the 
pope  confessyd  unto  hym  that  he  saw  yt  lykely  to  be  trew ;  and  seyde 

1  Cardinal  Grammont,  better  known  as  bishop  of  Tarbes.     He  was  made 
cardinal  in  1530. 

VOL.  T.  C  C 


386  APPENDIX. 

that  he  was  most  sorowful  that  yt  ys  nat  yn  hym  to  remidiate  yt,  yn  sa- 
tisfyyng  your  desyres :  seyyng,  furdermore,  that  he  wool  at  al  tymes  do 
for  your  hyghnes,  yn  thys  your  great  mater,  that  he  may  do  by  the  law. 

But,  as  yt  chawnced,  the  Frenche  kyng's  eurror  arryved  here  the  vth 
day  of  thys  present,  whyche  was  the  day  before  the  cardinal  Tarbe  was 
apoynted  to  have  departed.  And,  amongst  other  thynges,  he  brought 
a  letter  to  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  from  the  Frenche  kyng,  wheryn  the  Frenche 
kyng  wyllyd  hym  that  he  schuld,  apon  the  syght  of  the  same,  yff  he  had 
byn  departed  from  hens,  how  farre  so  ever  he  had  byn  yn  hys  jorney, 
returne  hether,  and  to  present  hys  letter  to  the  pope,  and  to  sette  fourthe 
suche  thynges  as  are  conteynyd  withyn  the  instructions  :  and  that  he 
schuld  use  no  lesse  diligence  yn  thys  mater,  then  yfF  yt  dyd  towche  hys 
owne  parson. 

The  viiith  day  of  thys  monthe  the  pope  returnyd  from  Hostia,  and 
came  to  a  place  here  yn  Rome  called  Saynt  Agatha ;  for,  at  the  same 
tyme,  he  cowde  nat  cume  to  hys  palace,  for  the  great  inundation  of 
Tiver,  whyche  was  so  great,  that  yt  rane  thorow  every  streyte  yn  Rome ; 
and  yn  many  streytes  yt  was  a  bove  ii  feydame  depe.  The  xth  day  of 
thys  monthe,  at  the  whyche  the  water  was  so  fallen  that  men  myght 
ryde  yn  the  streytes,  the  cardinal,  the  byschop  of  Woorceter,  Conte  de 
Ponte-Rimola,  the  Frenche  kynge's  ambassator  here  resident,  and  I, 
went  to  the  pope,  and  the  cardinal  presentyd  the  Frenche  kynge's  letter 
to  the  pope.  After  the  whyche  red,  the  pope  seyd  that  by  the  same  he 
percevyd  the  conjunction  of  the  Frenche  kyng  with  your  hyghnes,  yn 
thys  cawse,  to  be  suche,  as  he  takyth  thys  cawse  to  be  hys  owne,  and  yn 
the  defence  of  the  same  he  wul  stond,  as  thowghe  the  cawse  perteynyd 
al  only  to  hym  self :  and  seyd  furder  more,  that  the  seyd  Frenche  kyng 
desyred  hym  to  graunt  suche  thynges  for  the  expedition  of  thys  your 
hyghnes  great  cawse,  as  schuld  be  purposyd  unto  hys  holynes  by  the 
seyd  Monsr.  de  Tarbe,  and  hys  ambassator  here  resident.  Then 
Monsr.  de  Tarbe  purposyd  the  fyrst  degre,  whyche  was  the  comission 
to  my  lordes  of  Canterbury,  London,  and  Lyncolne.  To  that  the  pope 
answeryd  that  we  had  axid  the  same  before,  how  be  hyt,  he  sayde,  that, 
yn  the  lue  of  the  byshop  of  London,  we  namyd  an  other.  To  the 
whyche  we  answeryd,  and  seyd,  Trawythe  yt  was,  whyche  was  the 
byshop  of  Exceter ;  seyyng  furder,  that  yff  hys  holynes  thowght  hym 
more  mete  then  my  lord  of  London,  for  the  cawse  to  be  comittyd  unto, 
that  he  woold  take  hym,  and  leve  my  lord  of  London.  Hys  holynes 
made  answer  and  seyde  he  spake  yt  not  for  that  purpose.  Then  my 
lord  of  Tarbe  sayde  that,  yn  hys  opinion,  yt  was  a  very  resonable  peti- 
cion,  consideryng  the  extreme  age  of  my  lord  of  Canterbury,  and  hys 
sincerite,  good  counscillence,  and  gret  lernyng  :  and  cheffly  that  he  ys 


APPENDIX.  387 

cheffe  of  the  queny's  cowncel,  and  whow  of  lykelyod  woold  favor  rather 
the  queni's  part  than  yours,  yn  hys  opinyon.  Wherfor  yfF  he  schuld 
be  thowght  suspectyd  to  any  part,  your  hyghnes  schuld  thynke  hyt 
rather  suspect  then  the  quene.  Your  hyghnes,  therfor,  axyng  the  cawse 
to  be  comyttyd  to  hym,  declaryth  to  al  the  woorld  the  sincerite  of  your 
conscience,  and  that  your  trust  restyth  oonly  yn  the  justice  of  your 
cawse. — And  also  [he]  schewyd  the  merits  and  good  qualities  of  my 
lordys  London  and  Lincolne ;  and  cheffly  ther  excellent  lernyng,  whyche, 
he  seyd,  he  knew  to  be  trew  of  hys  knowlege.  Whyche  thynges  wel 
ponderyd,  hys  holynes  schuld,  of  reason  and  equite,  comitte  the  cawse 
unto  them,  withowt  desyre  of  any  part.  To  thys  hys  holynes  answeryd, 
that  apon  thys  peticion  we  had  stoud  with  hym  many  and  sundry  tymes 
before ;  and  to  that  he  had  made  us  an  answere ;  and  other  answer  then 

that  same  he  cowde  nat  make  us  : Whyche  was,  for  asmuche  as  the 

quene  had  alleged  the  place  suspectyd,  he  cowde  nat  comitte  hyt  thether 
ageyn  withowt  her  consent:  and  yff  she  woold  consent  unto  hyt,  he 
woold  most  gladly  comitt  yt  thether  unto  the  seyd  byshoppes.  And  to 
that,  other  answer  Monsr.  de  Tarbe,  nother  we,  cowde  nat  gette  of 
hym. 

Then  my  lord  of  Tarbe  descendyd  to  the  second  degre,  whyche  was 
for  the  comission  to  the  clergy  of  the  province  of  Canterbury.  And 
here  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  rehersyd  the  great  nomber  of  the  lernyd  men 
that  be  yn  the  same,  and  cheffly  schewyng  that  many  of  the  byshoppes 
of  the  same  province,  and,  yn  maner,  those  that  be  cheffe  of  them, 
namyng  Rochester,  Hely,  Bath,  Saynt  Asse  (Asaph),  and  also  many 
other  of  the  inferior  prelates,  be  of  the  queni's  cowncel,  whyche,  with 
owt  respect,  hathe  opinly  defendyd  the  queni's  cawse.  And  also,  as  yt 
ys  wrytyn  before,  my  lord  of  Canterbury  ys  of  the  queny's  cownsel, 
whyche  ys  cheff  and  hedd  of  the  same  convocacion  ;  for  the  whyche,  al 
the  woorld  may  perceve  that  your  hyghnes  desyreth  not  the  comission 
unto  them,  for  ani  affection,  or  trust  that  they  schuld  bare  unto  your 
cawse,  for  your  hyghnes  behalfe,  otherwyse  then  very  justice  and  good 
conscience  shall  dryve  them  unto.  To  thys  the  pope  sayd,  that  thys 
thyng  we  proposyd  unto  hym  before,  many  tymes  and  ofte,  to  the 
whyche  he  had  made  us  answer,  and  other,  he  seyde,  he  cowde  nat 
make ; — whyche  was  the  very  answer  that  he  made  unto  the  fyrst  degre. 
Then,  I  seyd,  your  holynes  consideryd  nothyng,  but  that  the  quene 
hathe  allegyd  the  place  to  be  suspectyd,  whyche,  I  seyde,  ys  nat  to  be 
had  yn  consideration:  for  the  place,  of  hyt  self,  ys  indifferent,  and 
canne  not  be  suspectyd,  onlesse  yt  be  by  reason  of  sume  accident, 
whyche  the  quene  cannot  allege,  other  then  your  hyghnes'  powers  and 
authorite  withyn  your  reame :  whyche,  I  seyde,  was  nat  sufficient  to 

C  C  2 


388  APPENDIX. 

conclude  the  place  to  be  suspectyd,  except  your  hyghnes  had  schewec! 
sume  actes  of  feare  agenst  them  that  had  byn  agenst  your  hyghnes,  for 
the  quern's  part,  yn  thys  cawse  ;  whyche,  I  seyd,  that  noman  lyvyng 
cowde  sey  that  your  hyghnes  had  schewed  to  any  of  them,  that  wer  of 
the  queni's  part,  any  dysplesure,  for  that  they  have  wryten  or  spoken 
for  her  part ;  but  rather  your  hyghnes  hathe  done  for  sume  of  them  :' 
and  here  I  namyd  my  lord  of  Derham.  Wherfor  I  seyde  that  hys 
holynes  schuld  nat  make  so  gret  a  grounde  apon  the  allegation  of  the 
suspition  of  the  place.  And  furdermore  I  seyd  that  hys  holynes  cowde, 
nother  of  reason,  nor  of  justice,  hyre  the  cawse  here,  nother  comitte 
yt  to  any  other  place,  then  ynto  Yngland,  by  reason  of  the  privileges 
and  custome  of  that  reame,  whyche  hath  byn  inviolately  observyd,  by 
tyme  owte  of  mynd,  to  thys  day ;  whyche  are,  that  noman  of  that  reame 
schuld  be  conventyd  owt  of  the  same,  yn  anv  cawse  ;  for  that  al  cawses> 
that  cumyth  hether  by  a  pele,  are  always  comittyd  thether  agen. 
Wherfor,  I  seyd  yff  hys  holynes  did  nat  comitte  thys  cawse  thether,  he 
schuld  do  agenst  the  prerogatyve,  privileges,  and  custome  of  the 
realme,  whyche,  I  seyd,  undowghtydly  your  hyghnes  woold  nat  suffer, 
beyng  sworne  to  the  mayntenance  of  the  same.  To  that  hys  holynes 
ansvveryd,  yff  I  woold  allege  the  same  yn  the  signature,2  or  yn  presence 
of  the  part  [adverse],  I  schuld  be  hard,  and  schuld  have  as  muche  as 
the  law  wul.  We  sayde  that  thys  was  the  extremite  that  he  myght 
putte  us  unto.  Then  he  seyde  that  he  woold  do  nothyng  yn  thys 
mater,  but  that  the  law  wul,  nother  for  your  hyghnes,  nother  for  the 
Frenche  kyng,  nother  for  themperor ;  and  other  answer  we  cowde  nat 
gette  of  hym.  So  then  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  came  unto  the  thyrd  degre, 
and  red  the  later  part  of  the  instructions,  de  verbo  in  verbum,  unto  the 
pope ; — whyche  was,  that  yff  hys  hyghnes  woold  nat  condescend  to 
nother  of  the  too  degreis  afore  seyd,  that  then,  yff  your  hyghnes  shal 
cume  to  provide  for  remedy  to  thys  your  great  cawse,  by  suche  meanis 
as  your  conscience  shal  judge,  beyng  conformable  and  appro vable  by 
the  lernyd  men  and  universites  yn  al  chrystyndome,  that  hys  holynes 
woold  nat  molest  nother  travail  your  hyghnes  yn  hyt  directly  or  un- 
directly,  as  by  inhibition,  censure,  interdiction  or  otherwyse,  &c.  To 
thys  he  seyde,  that  he  woold  consulte  apon  thys  yn  hys  cowncel,  and 
afterwards  he  woold  make  us  an  answer  unto  hyt.  Then  Monsr.  de 
Tarbe  sayde  that  yt  was  very  necessary  that  hys  holynes  schuld  studi 

1  So  in  the  original.     He  evidently  means  that  Henry  "  had  clone"  favours 
to  some  of  them. 

2  The  Office  of  the  Signature  of  Justice,  or  of  Grace,  to  which  litigated  causes 
are  referred. 


APPENDIX  389 

to  satisfye  your  hyghnes  yn  sume  of  thes  degres,  or   els,  he  sayde  that 
hys  holynes  schuld  see  a  gretter  ruine  yn  christyndome,  then  he  hathe 
seyn  hetherto,  as  he  myght  clerly  perceve  by  the  later  ende  of  the   in 
structions.     To  that  hys  holynes  seyd,  that  he  woold  be  most  sory  to 
see  yt ;  and,  yff  yt  wer  yn  hym  to  remediate  hyt,  he  woold  do  yt  most 
gladly  of  any  man  :  and  seyd,  that  yff  any  suche  ruine,  sclaunder,  and 
inconvenientes  schuld  folow,  he  had  lever  yt  schuld  folow  for  doyng 
hys  dewty,  then  the  lyke  schuld  folow  for  lacke  of  doyng  hys  dewty : 
and  addyd  unto  hyt,  that  he  was  utterly  determined  to  precede  yn  thys 
mater  accordyng  to  justice,  and  to  the  order  of  the  law :  and  repetyd 
ageyn,  that  he  nether  for  your  hyghnes,  nother  for  the  Frenche  kyng^ 
n  other  for  themperor,  woold  transgresse  oon  hare  of  justice.     And 
I  ensuar  your  hyghnes  he  was  yn  a  great  fume.  How  be  yt,  at  the  last, 
he  axid  a  copi  of  the  instructions.     My  lord  of  Tarbe  seyd  that  he 
had   no  comandment  to  geve  a  copie ;  nother  hyt  was  the  maner  to 
geve  any  copi  of  instructions,  withowt  a   special  comandment.      Hys 
holynes  seyd  that  he  woold  gladly  have  a  copi  of  them,  that  he  myght 
better  consult  with  hys  cowncel  apon  the  last  degre  yn  the  instructions, 
and  so  to  make  an  answer  to  us  of  the  hole.  My  lord  of  Tarbe  sayde  that 
he  woold  be  glad  at  any  tyme  to  rede  them  to  hys  holynes  or  cowncel. 
Then  hys  holynes  apoynted  the  second  day  for  an  answer ;  at  whyche 
tyme,  by  cawse  we  woold  nat  geve  hym  a  copie,  he  seyed  he  cowde 
nat  then  make  an  answer.     Then  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  red  the  instructions 
unto  hym  ageyn.     And  then  hys  holynes  apoyntyd  the  next  day  for  the 
answer;  at  the  whyche  tyme  he  had  apoynted  cardinal  Anchona  to 
make  the  answer  yn  hys  presence,  and  seyde  that,  for  as  muche  as 
those  thynges,  that  we  desyred,  consistid  yn  poyntes  of  the  law,  he 
had  ordeyned    the  seyd  cardinal    to  make    answer,  seyyng  that   the 
answer  that  he  schuld  make  we  schuld  take  yt  for  hys  holynes  answer ; — 
whyche  was  as  followyth.     Fyrst,  he  sayde  that  yff  hys  holynes  cowde 
persuade  the  quenis  proctors  here  to  consent  that  the  cawse  schuld  be 
eomittyd,  as  we  desyred,  that  then  he  myght  do  yt  withowt  grevyng  of 
any  part.     To  that  we  seyd,  yff  the  quenis  agents  woold  consent  unto 
hyt,  we  schuld  nat  nede  to  make  so  greate  instance   for  hyt.     To  the 
second  he  seyde  yn  lyke  wyse,  consyderyng  the  quene  had  alleged  the 
realrne  suspectyd.     To  that  we   replied  as  ys  wrytten  before,  allegyng 
the  custome  withal.     To  that  he  answeryd,  that  we  schuld  cume  to  the 
Sygnature,  or  Consistory,  and  allege  yt  there,  and  we  schuld  be  hard 
with  as  muche  favour  as  myght  be  lawfully.     To  that  we  answeryd 
that  we  had  no  suche  proxi  so  to  do.     Then  he  replied  ageyn  that  we 
myght  cume  as  orators,  with  a  protestacion  de  non  consentieiido,  &c. 
To  that  we  answeryd  that  we  had  no   suche   comauiidment  so  to  do. 


390  APPENDIX. 

Then  he  repetyd  ageyn,  that,  yff  the  pope  myght  persuade  the  quenis 
agentes  to  consent  unto  thys  comission,  hys  holynes  myght  be  glad, 
for  he  schuld  be  delyveryd  of  a  great  bourdon.  And  yff  hys  holynes 
cowde  nat  persuade  them  unto  hyt,  that  then,  he  seyd,  for  asmuche  as 
the  cawse  was  advokyd  apon  cawses  allegyd  by  the  quenis  part,  bothe 
yn  the  Sygnature  and  Consistory,  whyche  war  ponderyd  maturely 
and  delyberately,  and  so  comittyd  here  accordyng  to  the  order  of  the 
law,  hys  holynes  cowde  nat,  at  your  hyghnes  desyre,  advoke  the  cawse 
ageyn  of  justice,  but  by  lyke  order.  To  tbat  we  replied  and  seyd,  the 
foreseyd  advocacion  was  made,  your  hyghnes  nat  beyng  called  unto 
hyt;  wherfor  yt  cowde  take  no  effecte  yn  law.  But  thys  nat  with- 
stondyng,  we  cowde  bryng  hyt  to  no  other  poynt,  but  the  order  schuld 
be  kept. 

To  the  thyrd  he  seyd,  that  the  pope,  grauntyng  the  same,  schuld  do 
grevously  agenst  justice ;  for  the  quene  axing  processe,  accordyng  to 
the  order  of  the  law,  hys  holynes  cowde  nat  deny  yt  unto  her,  onles  he 
woold  denye  her  justice  manifestly,  whyche,  in  thys  case,  he  schuld  in 
no  wyse  do,  consideryng  that  yt  ys  a  cawse  of  matrimony,  concernyng 
your  hyghnes  and  the  queni's  sowlys  helthe ;  being  also  a  sacrament  of 
the  churche,  and  that  the  knowlege  of  hyt  naturally  belongyth  unto  hys 
holynes.  Wherfor  yt  schuld  be  necessary  that  yn  thys  cawse  he  schuld 
bere  hym  selfupryght  bethyxt  bothe  partis.  And  so  doyng,  he  dydbut 
hys  dewty :  and  yn  so  doyng,  what  so  ever  any  of  the  partes  schuld  do 
agenst  hym,  let  hym  comit  hym  to  God,  and  God  schuld  helpe  hym. — 
And  thys,  yn  effect,  was  hys  hole  answer. 

And  whan  we  saw  that  we  cowd  nat  proffyte  yn  none  of  the  sayde 
degreis,  then  we  practised,  by  Mons.  de  Tarbe's  meanes,  for  a  furder 
delay,  whom  we  moved  to  procure  [it]  as  of  hym  self:  and  that  he 
schuld  persuade  bothe  the  pope,  and  themperor's  and  kyng  of  Ungrei'& 
ambassators,  that  yt  schuld  be  very  necessary,  and  cheffly  for  the  queni's 
helthe,  consideryng  that  yff  any  processe  schuld  be  made  here,  at  her 
sute,  that  therby  your  hyghnes  schuld  be  gretly  irritate  agenst  her,  and 
to  take  an  occasion  to  expelle  her  from  your  hyghnes'  company  ;  whyche 
thyng  don  schuld  nat  lye  yn  ther  power  to  repayre  :  whyche  thyng 
Mons.  de  Tarbe  dyd  so  hernestly,  as  he  seyd,  that  the  seyd  ambassators 
dyd  confesse  yt  to  be  of  trewyth.  How  be  yt,  they  seyd  that  they  had 
so  streyte  comaundment  from  ther  masters  to  calle  apon  processe,  and 
have  byn  so  sore  rebukyd  of  them,  for  that  they  have  sufferyd  suche 
delais,  that  they  dare  nat  to  consent  to  any  delay.  How  be  yt,  they 
seyd  they  had  wryten  to  the  emperor  and  kyng  Fardinando,  to  know 
ther  plesures  yn  hyt,  and  that  they  lokyd  dayly  for  an  answer.  Then 
Monsr.  de  Tarbe,  as  of  hym  self  and  by  hym  self,  separatly  movyd 


APPENDIX.  391 

the  pope  for  to  dyfferre  the  process.  The  pope  seyd  he  woold  most 
gladly  do  yt,  but  he  seyd  he  cowde  not  do  ytwithowt  the  consent  of 
the  part  adverse ;  and  seyd  furdermore  that  he  he  had  wryten  to 
themperor  that  he  schuld  yn  any  wyse  consent  unto  a  delay,  whoys 
answer  he  lookyd  for  dayly.  At  lengythe,  at  the  great  sute  of  Monsr. 
de  Tarbe,  the  pope  was  content  to  suspend  the  processe  for  thre  wekes 
longer,  withyn  the  whyche,  the  answer  myght  cume  from  the  emperor 
bothe  to  the  pope  and  to  the  seyde  ambassators; — whyche  delay  the 
pope  had  promised  to  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  the  same  day  that  Francys  the 
curror  arryved  here,  whyche  was  the  xviii  day  of  thys  monthe ;  whyche 
thyng  he  woold  schuld  be  kept  secrete,  tyl  hys  holynes  had  spokyn 
with  us  ageyn,  whyche  was  for  no  other  purpose,  but  to  see  what  reso 
lution  we  had  from  your  hyghnes  by  the  same  curror.  And,  at  our 
cumming  to  hys  holynes,  whyche  was  the  next  mornyng  after  the  arryval 
of  the  seyd  curror,  he  axid  us  yffwe  had  any  comaundment  of  your 
grace,  to  promis,  yn  case  that  any  suspensacion  of  process  here  schuld 
be  grauntyd,  that  your  hyghnes,  duryng  the  same,  woold  attempt  no- 
thynge  there  de  facto.  We,  consideryng  that  the  delay  of  iii  wekes 
was  promised  to  the  seyde  Monsr.  de  Tarbe,  and,  withyn  the  same 
tyme,  the  answer  myght  cumme,  by  the  whyche  we  myght  have  a  sus 
pension  per  aliquot  menses,  withowt  promisyng  aff  any  thyng  of  your 
hyghnes  behalf,  or  withowt  any  instance  to  be  made  for  hyt  by  us,  we 
thowght  therfor  that  yt  schuld  be  more  honorable  to  your  hyghnes  to 
have  suche  a  delay,  whyche  schuld  be  to  that  tyme,  whyche  your  hygh 
nes  hathe  expressyd  yn  your  last  letter,  only  by  them  offerd  and  pro 
cured,  than  any  that  schuld  have  ben  grawntyd  at  the  promisyng  of  any 
thyng,  afF  your  behalf,  or  by  us  procured  as  of  our  self, — for  the  whyche 
we  seyd  to  hys  holynes  that  we  had  no  suche  comaundment.  With 
that  hys  holynes  was  summwhat  altered  ;  yet,  for  al  that,  we,  consider 
yng  that  yt  was  dowghtful  wether  the  other  part  woold  cumme  to  the 
delay  or  nat,  and  we  beyng  suar  that  the  pope  woold  nat  graunt  the 
delay  withowt  the  consent  of  the  other  part,  woold  nat  disclose  unto 
hym  that  we  had  any  suche  comaundment ;  but  axid  of  hys  holynes  for 
what  purpose  he  was  so  desirous  to  know  yt.  He  seyd,  to  thentent  that 
he  myght  wryte  ageyn  efficacilly  to  themperor,  that  he  schuld  consent. 
We  seyd  unto  hys  holynes  ageyn,  that  he  myght,  accordyng  as  he  had 
intendyd,  wryte  to  persuade  themperor  to  hyt,  and  we  woold,  yn  the 
mean  tyme,  wryte  unto  your  hyghnes,  to  know  your  plesure  yn  hyt. 
And  here  ageyn  we  made  instance  for  the  comission,  accordying  to 
the  custome.  To  the  whyche  he  answeryd  as  ys  afore  wryten ;  and 
other,  he  sayde  playnly,  he  woold  make  none, — not,  as  he  seyd,  by- 
cawse  he  woold  nat,  but  bycawse  he  cowde  nat.  Then  Monsr.  de 


392  APPENDIX. 

Tarbe  spake  with  hym  aparte,  a  good  whyle,  as  he  seyd,  to  have  per- 
suadyd  the  pope,  as  of  hym  self,  to  have  a  longer  delay  ;  and,  at  hys 
curamyng  ageyn,  schewed  us  that  he  cowde  nat  bryng  the  pope  to 
grawnt  no  longer  delay  then  thre  wekes>  addyng  unto  hyt,  that  hys  holy- 
ues  seyd  that  he  thowght  verely  he  schuld  have  suche  an  answer  from 
themperor,  withyn  the  same  tyme,  that  he  may  graunt  a  longer  delay  : 
but,  nat  beyng  suar  of  hyt,  he  woold  nat  promise  hyt.  Then  we  seyd 
that  the  tyme  was  to  schort,  for  we  cowde  riat,  withyn  the  same  tyme, 
wryte  unto  your  hyghnes,  and  have  an  answer  ageyn ;  and  so  we 
schewyd  the  pope  :  but  yn  no  wyse  we  cowde  obteyne  no  farder  delay 
of  hym.  And  after  thys,  the  next  day  after,  Monrs.de  Tarbe  went  unto 
hym  ageyn,  to  have  persuadyd  hym  to  a  longer  delay ;  but  yn  no  wyse 
the  pope  woold  graunt  hyt :  how  be  yt,  he  seyd  that  he  dowghtyd  nat 
but,  withyn  few  dayes,  an  answer  schuld  cumme  from  themperor,  and 
then  he  trustyd  we  schuld  have  a  longer  delay.  And  so,  the  next  day 
after,  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  departed  hens  towards  Fraunce. 

And,  sire,  althowgh,  before  the  arryval  of  the  last  curror,  we  had  al 
leged  the  custome  and  privileges  of  the  realme,  as  ys  afore  wryten,  yet, 
to  fulfil  your  hyghnes  comaundment,  we  went  to  the  pope,  and  made 
instance  to  hym  ageyn,  for  the  comission,  and  alleged  the  seyd  custome 
ageyn,  desyryng  hym  to  ponder  yt  wel,  schewyng  that,  yffhe  dyd  nat, 
gretter  inconveriientes  schuld  enschew  then  he  thowght  at  that  tyme. 
Other  answer  we  cowde  nat  gette,  then  we  had  before.  Then  we  seyd, 
that,  yff  hys  holynes  woold  examine  thys  custome  so  exquisitly,  and 
seke  the  reason  of  hyt,  whyche  hathe  byn  usyd  by  tyme  owt  of  mynd, 
and  now  is  certayn,  he  schuld  nat  do  wel;  for  hys  holynes  schuld 
consider  how  dawngerus  yt  ys  to  serche  for  the  reason  of  suche 
thynges  as  hathe  byn  usyd  long,  and  so  takyn  for  certayn,  lest 
those  thynges,  whyche  are  takyn  now  for  certayn,  schuld  be  subver- 
tyd  :  and  also  how  grevously  he  woold  take  yt,  yff  a  man  schuld  axe  of 
hym  the  reason  why  he,  beyng  byschop  of  Rome,  schuld  have  jurisdic 
tion  yn  al  other  churchys  and  byschoppes.  To  that  he  answeryd  and 
seyd,  that  he  percevyd  to  what  end  thys  mater  woold  grow ;  and  seyd, 
he  woold  prove  better  hys  jurisdiction,  then  your  hyghnes  cowde  prove 
your  custome :  addyng,  yn  a  great  fume,  that  he  woold  nat  geve  us 
furder  audience  yn  thys  cawse  of  matrimony,  but  in  presence  of  hys 
councel.  Then  I  seyde  ageyn,  that  yt  war  wel  done  that  hys  holynes 
and  hys  councel  schuld  wel  ponder  thys  mater ;  for  ther  ys  nothyng  so 
certeyn  yn  law,  but,  by  sekyng  the  reason  therof,  yt  may  be  made 
dowghtful;  and  what  inconvenientes  may  therof  folow  hys  holynes  may 
consider.  To  that,  beyng  sore  altered,  he  made  hys  acoustomable 
answer,  whyche  ys,  that,  yff  the  woorld  schuld  ruate,  he  had  lever  yt 


APPENDIX  393 

schuld  mate  for  doying  hys  dewty  and  office,  then  yt  schuld  ruate  for 
lacke  of  doyng  hys  dewty ;  seyng  furder,  that  yfF  any  suche  ruine  or 
sclawnder  schuld  folow,  he  woold  accumulate  hyt  to  hys  other  illis  and 
ynfortunys  :  and  seyd,  that  oon  thyng  schuld  be  hys  comfort,  whyche 
ys,  that  yt  schuld  nat  folow  by  hys  defawte  :  concludyng  with  a  great 
vehemence,  that,  for  any  thyng  that  we  schuld  sey  or  do,  he  woold  do 
nothyng  yn  thys  mater,  but  acordyng  to  the  order  of  the  law,  &c.  We, 
seyng  hym  beyng  so  sore  altered,  went  no  farder  with  hym,  knowyng 
hys  nature  suche,  that,  yfF  he  be  browght  oons  to  an  obstinaci,  that  yt 
wool  be  very  hard  to  bryng  hym  from  hyt.  And  I  ensure  your  hygh- 
nes,  as  farre  as  I  canne  perceve,  by  the  knowlege  that  I  have  yn  hym, 
that,  by  pykant  woords,  your  grace  shal  never  obteyne  any  thyng  of 
hym ;  nother  by  thretnyng  woords  yow  shal  never  putte  hym  yn  any 
feare,  onles  your  hyghnes  or  Frenche  kyrig  had  an  army  here  yn  Itali, 
as  themperor  hathe.  Then,  peraventure,  your  hyghnes  or  Frenche 
kyng  myght  putte  hym  yn  feare,  as  now  themperor  may  do,  by  reason 
of  hys  army  here.  And,  sire,  I  ensuar  your  hyghnes,  that  I  see  verely, 
that  hys  holynes  wul  do  nothyng  yn  thys  your  great  cawse,  but  by  pro- 
cesse  accordyng  to  the  order  of  the  law.  And  from  thys  I  cannot  see 
that  yt  shal  be  possible  that  your  hyghnes  schal  bryng  hym.  And,  on 
the  oder  syde,  yfF  your  hyghnes'  cawse  schuld  be  knowen  here  now,  yt 
schuld  be  very  dawngerus,  stondyng  the  woorld  as  yt  dothe.  How  be 
yt,  yfF  a  man  myght  geve  fey  the  to  a  man's  woordes,  the  pope  wool  do 
that,  he  may  possible  by  the  law,  for  your  hyghnes.  And  hys  woordes 
sowndyng  to  that  purpose  I  dyd  wryte  yn  my  last  letter  to  your  hygh 
nes  ;  whyche  woordes  many  tymes  syns  he  hathe  repetyd  unto  me,  after 
the  afFectionatest  maner  that  canne  be  dyvysyd.  And  yn  lyke  wyse, 
hys  holynes  hathe  don  the  same  to  the  cardinal  Tarbe,  whyche  ys  by 
those  woordes  holy  persuaded,  that  hys  holynes  ys  to  be  trusted  yn  that 
behalf.  The  pope  hathe  comittyd  to  my  lord  of  Tarbe  certeyn 
thynges  to  schew  to  the  Frenche  kyng,  concernyng  your  hyghnes' 
cawse,  of  the  whyche  Monsr.  de  Tarbe  takyth  a  great  hope ;  but  what 
they  are  my  lord  of  Tarbe  woold  by  no  means  schew  me ;  seyyng  that 
the  pope  hathe  so  streytly  comaundyd  hym  to  kepe  yt  secret;  in  so- 
muche,  that  hys  holynes  comaundyd  hym  nat  to  wryte  yt,  but  only  to 
schew  yt  to  the  Frenche  kyng  by  mouthe,  and  that  the  Frenche  kyng 
schuld  sygnifie  yt  to  your  hyghnes.  The  pope  schewyd  me  also  that 
he  had  geven  suche  a  comission  to  the  cardinal  de  Tarbe.  And,  oon 
day,  I  was  yn  hand  with  hym  to  have  knowen  what  yt  was,  and  pressyd 
hym  so  farre,  that  oons  he  was  abought  to  telle  me  :  but  sodenly  he 
seyd  he  woold  schew  me  more  an  other  tyme.  And,  beyng  sore  altered 


394  APPENDIX. 

by  thys  thynges  that  we  have  entreated  with  hym  now  last,  I  canne  get 
nothyng  of  hym.  But  I  conjecture  yt  schuld  be  concernyng  the  reso 
lution  of  hys  councel,  apon  the  dispensation. 

Syre,  schortly  after  my  cumyng  hether,  the  pope  movyd  unto  me  o 
a  dispensation  for  too  wyffis,  whyche  he  spake  at  the  same  tyme  so 
dowgtfully,  that  I  suspectyd  that  he  spake  yt  for  oon  of  the  too  pur- 
posis :  the  oon  was,  that  I  schuld  have  sette  yt  foreward  to  your  hygh 
nes,  to  thentent,  that,  yff  your  hyglmes  woold  have  acceptyd  hyt, 
therby  he  schuld  have  goten  a  mean  to  bryng  your  hyghnes  to  graunt, 
that,  yff  he  myght  dispense  yn  thys  case,  whyche  ys  of  no  lesse  force 
then  your  case  ys,  consequently  he  myght  dyspense  yn  your  hyghnes' 
case.  The  other  was,  that  I  conjectured  that  yt  schuld  be  a  thyng  pur- 
posyd  to  enterteygne  your  hyghnes  yn  summe  hope,  wherby  he  myght 
differ  your  cawse,  to  thentent  your  grace  schuld  trust  apon  the  same. 
Then  I  axed  hys  holynes  whether  he  was  fully  resolved  that  he  myght 
dyspense  yn  the  same  case  ?  Then  hys  holynes  schewed  me  no  :  but 
seyd  that  a  great  dyvine  schewed  hym  that  he  thowght,  for  avoydyng 
of  a  gretter  inconvenience,  hys  holynes  myght  dyspense  yn  the  same 
case :  how  be  yt,  he  seyd  he  woold  councel  farder  apon  hyt  with  hys 
councel.  And  now,  of  late,  the  pope  schewed  me  that  hys  councel 
schewed  hym  playnly  that  he  cowld  not  do  yt. 

And  as  concernyng  those  thynges  that  your  hyghnes,  yn  your  last 
letters,  comaundyd  Mr.  Doctor  Carne  and  to  me  to  serche  for,  we 
schal  nat,  by  Goddes  grace,  omitte  no  labors  nor  diligence  for  the 
serchyng  therof :  and  suche  thynges  as  we  schal  fynd  with  al  dilygence 
we  schal  advertyse  your  hyghnes  therof. 

And,  Sire,  wher  now  the  absence  of  my  lord  of  Tarbe  schal  be  to  us 
a  great  lacke,  bothe  for  hys  authorite  for  beyng  cardinal,  and  also  for 
lacke  of  knowlege  of  suche  thynges  as  may  be  entreatyd  yn  the  con 
sistory,  and  congregation  of  the  cardinals,  concernyng  your  hyghnes 
cawse, — the  knowlege  wherof  may  sumtymes  conferre  gretly  to  the  ad- 
vaunsement  of  your  cawses  here  :  consideryng  also  that  ther  ys  here  no 
cardinal,  by  whom  we  may  have  any  suche  knowlege,  and  also  that 
your  hyghnes  hathe  wryten  oftyntymes  to  the  pope,  in  favour  of  my 
lord  of  Woorceter,  for  the  cardinalate,  and  that  the  pope  ys  contentyd, 
at  your  highnes'  instance,  to  make  hym,  yff  your  grace  woold  declare 
your  grace's  plesure  to  hys  nuncio  there,  that  yt  ys  your  desyre  to  have 
hym,  as  I  have  wryten  to  your  hyghnes  heretofore, — yff  therfor  yt  woold 
please  your  hyghnes  to  schew  your  plesure  to  the  seyde  nuncio,  yn  that 
behalf,  so  that  he  may  certyfye  the  pope  before  the  next  imbryng  dayes, 
whyche  schalbe  yn  December  next,  he  schal  undowghtyd  be  made 


APPENDIX.  395 

cardinal,  as  the  pope  hathe  promised  me ;  whois  promocion  schal  be 
gretly  to  your  honor,  and  profitable  to  your  affayers  here.  And,  for 
the  better  expedicion  of  hyt,  yt  schal  be  very  good  that  your  hyghnes 
wryte  a  letter  to  the  college  of  the  cardinalls  :l  and  also  to  send  your 
comaundment  ageyn,  to  sollicite  yt  to  the  pope. 

By  thys  letter,  and  the  other  yn  Latyn,  that  my  lord  of  Woorceter 
hathe  wryten,  and  by  me  also  subscribyd,  your  hyghnes  schal  holy  un- 
derstond  every  thyng  that  hath  byn  don,  syns  the  thyrd  day  of  thys 
present,  yn  your  hyghnes  cawse,  as  God  knowyth,  whow  preserve  your 
hyghnes'  most  roial  astate.  And  thus  most  humbly  I  comend  me  to 
your  hyghnes  at  Rome.  At  Rome  the  xxvii  day  of  October. 

Your  most  humble  subject 
and  servant, 

WM.  BENET. 

No.  XXIX.— (Referred  to  at  page  208.) 

A  Bull  of  Inhibition.,  forbidding  any  person,  or  court  whatever,  to  pro 
nounce  upon  the  Cause  of  the  Divorce. 

[Le  Grand,  iii.  531.] 

Universis  et  singulis,  praasentes  literas  inspecturis,  salutem  et  apos- 
tolicam  benedictionem.  Exponi  nobis  nuper  fecit  charissima  in  Christo 
filia  nostra  Catharina,  regina  Anglia?  illustrissima,  quod  licet  alias  nos, 
postquam  causam,  et  causas  recusationis,  ac  appellationis,  et  appella- 
tionum,  ac  validitatis,  seu  invaliditatis  matrimonii,  ex  dispensatione  apos- 
tolica,  inter  reginam  ipsam  et  charissimum  in  Christo  filium  nostrum 
Henricum  Anglise  regem  illustrissimum,  et  fidei  defensorem,  multis  jam 
decursis  annis,  prole  suscepta,  contracti,  et  pacifice  continuati,  ipsiusque 
dispensationis,  ac  inter  eos  divortii,  dilecto  filio  nostro  Laurentio  S. 
Maria?  in  trans-Tyberim,  et  bonaa  memoriae  ThomaB  S.  Ceciliee,  presby- 
teris  cardinalibus,  in  regno  Angliae,  tune  nostris  et  apostolicse  sedis  le- 
gatis  de  latere,  omni  recusatione  et  appellatione  remotis,  per  eos  in 
eodem  regno  cognoscendas,  per  nos  commissas,  ab  ipsis  cardinalibus 
tune  legatis,  ad  nos,  et  sedem  apostolicam,  pro  parte  ipsius  reginse  iriter- 
positsB,  et  interpositarum,  ad  ipsius  reginse  supplicationem,  dilecto  filio 
magistro  Paulo  Capisucio  capellano  nostro,  et  causarum  palatii  apostolici 
auditori,  per  eum  audiendas,  et  coram  nobis  in  consistorio  nostro  secreto 
referendas  nobis,  etiam  cum  potestate  regem  ipsum  et  alios  citandi,  ac 
eis,  ac  dictis  cardinalibus  et  legatis  inhibendi,  etiam  sub  censuris,  et 
pcenis  etiam  pecuniariis,  etiam  per  edictum  publicum,  constito  sum- 
marie  et  extrajudicialiter  de  non  tuto  accessu,  et  alias  commiseramus, 

1  [Henry  adopted  this  advice.     The  letter  which  he  wrote  is  in  Collier  ii. 
Records,  p.  14  ;  and  is  dated  May  19,  1532.— T.~] 


396  APPENDIX. 

ipseque  Paulus  auditor,  constito  sibi  de  non  tuto  accessu,  citationem 
ipsam  cum  inhibitione,  sub  censuris,  ac  decem  millium  ducatorum  auri 
poenis,  per  edictum  publicum  in  certis  locis  almae  urbis  nostrae,  et,  in 
partibus,  in  collegiatae  B.  Marise  Brugensis,  Tornacensis  dioecesis,  eccle- 
siarum  valvis  affigendum  decreverat,  et  in  eis  prsemissa  legitime  executa, 
ac  dictis  regi,  et  aliis  omnibus,  ne  in  prsejudicium  litis,  et  jurium  dicta? 
reginse,  interim  aliquid  innovarent,  mandatum  fuerat,  licet  revocatis 
postea,  quoad  ipsum  regem,  poenis  et  censuris  in  inhibitione,  ad  con- 
questionem  ipsius  reginse,  nobis  asserentis,  ad  ejus  aures  pervenisse, 
regem  ipsum,  lite  pendente,  ac  inhibitione,  et  mandate,  sibi  factis  prae- 
dictis  non  obstantibus,  se  jactare  ad  secundas  nuptias  de  facto  devenire 
velle,  in  ipsius  reginae  praejudicium  non  modicum,  ac  regis  praedicti 
animse  periculum,  cupientes,  prout  nostro  pastorali  incumbebat  officio, 
prsemissis  providere,  eidem  regi,  ac  quibusvis  utriusque  sexus,  etiam 
illius  domesticis,  ac  etiam  consiliariis,  secretariis,  et  aliis  cujuscunque 
status,  gradus,  dignitatis,  et  excellentise  personis,  districte  per  alias 
nostras  in  forma  brevis,  sub  data  Bononise  die  septima  Martii,  pontifi- 
catus  nostri  anno  septimo,  indixerinms,  prohibuerimus,  et  districtius 
inhibuerimus,  omnem  licentiam,  potestatem,  et  facultatem  ab  eis  aufe- 
rentes,  ne  sub  majoris  excommunicationis,  suspensionis,  et  aliis  senten- 
tiis,  et  censuris,  etiam  interdict!  appositionis,  et  ipsarum  personarum 
inhabilitatis,  et  aliis  pcenis,  si  contra  fecissent,  incurrendis,  ipse  rex  ne, 
antequam  per  debitam,  et  finalem  litis,  et  causse  hujusmodi  expedi- 
tionem  clare  liqueret,  id  sibi  licere  de  jure,  cum  aliqua  muliere  cujus 
cunque  dignitatis  et  excellentise,  etiam  vigore  cujusvis  dispensations 
etiam  apostolicae,  sibi,  vel  eidem  mulieri,  etiam  per  nos  concessse,  aut 
desuper  quomodolibet  obtentse,  vel  obtinendse,  matrimonium,  vel  spon- 
salia  contrahere,  vel  forsan  contracta,  et  consummata,  etiam  prole  sus- 
cepta,  continuare,  person  se  vero  prsedictse  ne  illis  interesse,  nee  de  eis  se 
intromittere,  prsesumerent ;  etiam  illis  ac  cardinalibus,  legatis,  ac  aliis 
quibuscunque  inhibendo,  ne  de  prsedictis,  aut  dicto  matrimonio  commi- 
nato,  etiam  sub  nomine  legatorum,  aut  privatim,  aut  alio  quocunque 
modo  proesumerent,  prout  in  iisdem  literis  plenius  continetur:  nihil- 
ominus,  etiam  post  earundem  literarum  nostrarum  in  locis  prrcdictis 
publicationem,  affixionem,  et  executionem,  quod  non  absque  animi 
nostri  displicentia  intelleximus,  adhuc  regem  ipsum,  lite  et  illius  ad  nos 
advocatione,  inhibitione,  interdicto,  prohibitione,  et  mandatis  nostris 
praedictis  non  obstantibus,  ad  secundas  nuptias  de  facto  devenire,  ac  in 
causa  et  causis  prsedictis  etiam  per  nonnullos  prsetensos  judices,  seu 
personas,  in  illis  partibus  procedere,  et  attentare  velle,  in  non  modicum 
ipsius  reginse  prsejudicium,  ac  regis  prsedicti  animse  periculum,  nostrique 
et  sedis  apostolicse  mandate"  conteiiiptum ;  quare,  pro  parte  ipsius  re- 


o 

APP^NDIxJSl  LIBRARY  )  'I         397 

ginae,  nobisfuit  humiliter  supplicatum,ut  ejusVhpparj^acipsius  regisanimae 
saluti,  totiusque  regni  tranquillitati  consulereT^seandalisque  quae  exinde 
oriripossentobviare,  aliasque  premissis  opportune  providere,  de  apostolica 
benignitate  dignaremur.  Nos  igitur  attendentes,  justis  et  honestis  pe- 
titionibus  nostrum  assensum  denegari  non  debere,  hujusmodi  supplica 
tion  ibus  inclinati,  authoritate  apostolica,  de  venerabilium  fratrum  nos- 
trorum  sanctae  Romanae  ecclesiae  cardinalium  consilio,  pariter  et  assensu, 
sub  irritantis  decreti  pcena,  per  hoc  nostrum  edictum  publicum  in  au- 
dientia  nostra  contradictarum  denuo  publicandum,  ac  earundem  eccle- 
siarum  valvis  affigendum,  cum  alias  prsefato  Paulo  auditori  constiterit, 
ad  illud  eidem  regi  intimandum  non  patere  accessum,  prout  de  praesenti 
non  patet,  eidem  regi,  et  quibusvis  utriusque  sexus,  etiam  illius  domes- 
ticis  et  secretariis,  ac  ipsius  regni,  etiam  Cantuariensi  legato  nato,  et 
aliis  primatibus,  archiepiscopis,  episcopis,  ac  etiam  consiliariis  a  secretis 
consiliis,  parliamentis,  universitatibus,  collegiis  etiam  judicum,  et  aliis 
quibusvis,  cujuscumque  status,  gradus,  ordinis,  conditionis,  dignitatis, 
et  excellentiae  personis,  et  judicibus,  quocunque  nomine  nuncupatis, 
dignitate  fulgentibus,  et  authoritate  functuris,  districte  interdicimus, 
prohibemus,  et  district! us  inhibemus,  omnem  omnino  licentiam,  potesta- 
tem,  et  facultatem  ab  eis  auferentes,  ne  sub  majoris  excommunicationis, 
et  suspensionis,  ac  quorumvis  ecclesiarum,  dignitatum,  feodorum,  bene- 
ficiorum,  officiorum,  et  bonorum  ecclesiasticorum  et  secularium,  ac  in- 
habilitatis  ad  ea,  et  quaecuncque  alia  in  posterum  obtinenda,  latse  sen- 
tentise  pcenis,  eo  ipso,  si  contra  fecerint,  vel  eoruni  aliquis  contra  fecerit, 
incurrendis,  ipse  rex  ne  antequam  per  debitam  et  finalem  litis,  et  causes 
hujusmodi  expeditionem,  clare  liqueat  id  sibi  licere  de  jure,  cum  aliqua 
muliere  cujuscunque  dignitatis  et  excellentiae,  etiam  vigore  cujusvis  de- 
super  forsan  sibi,  aut  tali  mulieri,  aut  alias  quemlibet,  etiam  per  nos  et 
sedem  praedictam  concessae,  vel  concedendae,  contrahendi  licentiae,  aut 
contract!  approbationis ;  nee  aliqua  mulier  cum  eodem  rege  rnatrimo- 
nium,  vel  sponsalia  contrahere,  vel  forsan  contracta,  et  consummata, 
etiam  prole  suscepta,  continuare,  inhibendo  etiam  prsedictis,  vel  qui 
busvis  aliis  etiam  parliamentis,  ne  de  lite,  et  causa  hujusmodi,  et  aliis 
prsedictis,  ac  dicto  matrimonio  comminato,  etiam  sub  nomine 
legatorum  aut  privatim,  aut  alio  quocuncque  modo,  se  intromit- 
tant  ;  sed  cum,  etiam  lite  pendente,  nullus  debeat  possessione 
conjugii  et  debiti  conjugalis  spoliari,  idem  rex,  ut  talem  principem 
et  Christianum  Catholicum  decet,  dictam  reginam  maritali  tractet 
affectione,  et  litem  ipsam  coram  ipso  Paulo  legitime  prosequatur,  et 
illius  finem  sua  solita  prudentia  patienter  expectet ;  et  propterea,  si  rex 
praefatus,  vel  alii,  inhibition!,  prohibition!,  et  interdicto  hujusmodi  con- 


398  APPENDIX. 

travenerit,  tale  matrimonium,  seu  sponsalia,  ac  omnia,  et  singula,  tarn 
per  regem,  quam  personas,  parliamenta,  universitates,  collegia,  et 
judices  praefatos,  et  quoscuncque  alios,  gesta,  et  facta,  prsesumpta,  vel 
attentata,  tanquam  nulla,  irrita,  et  inania,  de  similibus  consilio  et 
assensu,  irritamus,  et  annullamus,  ac  prolem  ex  tali  conjugio  concep- 
tam,  genitam,  susceptam,  concipiendam,  vel  suscipiendam,  tanquam  in 
mala  fide,  et  illegitime,  ac  ex  adulterio  natam,  illegitimam  fore  decer- 
nimus ;  regemque  ipsum,  ac  alios  omnes  supradictos  sententias,  cen- 
suras,  et  pcenas  prsedictas,  ex  nunc,  prout  ex  tune,  incurrisse  decla- 
ramus,  et  ut  tales  publicari,  ac  publice  nuntiari,  et  evitari  debere, 
volumus,  atque  mandamus.  Quocirca  vobis  et  singulis  vestrum,  etiam 
in  dignitate  constitutis,  sub  excommunicationis  latse  sententiae  pcena, 
districte  prcecipiendo  mandamus,  quatenus,  postquam  praesentes  ad  vos 
pervenerint,  seu  vobis  praesentatae  fuerint,  et  commode  poteritis,  easdem 
praesentes  literas  in  dicta  audientia  contradictarum  publicari,  et  valvis 
earundem  ecclesiarum  affigi,  et  paulisper  inde  amoveri,  et  earum 
copiam  collationatam  eisdem  valvis  affixam  dimittere,  et  demum  super 
publicatione,  et  affixione,  et  dimissione,  publica  et  authentica  instru- 
menta,  manu  propria  notarii,  coram  testibus,  fieri  faciatis ;  et  de  his 
omnibus,  ac  aliis,  quae  in  praemissis  per  vos  gesta  fuerint,  nos,  seu  Pau- 
lum  auditorem  prsedictum,  certiores  reddere  curabitis.  Nos  enim 
prasentium  literarum  publication  em,  affixionem,  et  copies  dimissionem, 
per  vos  faciendas,  postquam  factae  fuerint,  eosdem  regem  et  alios  supra 
dictos  perinde  arctare,  ac  si  prassentes,  omniaque  in  eis  contenta,  eis 
personaliter  intimata,  ac  illarum  copiae  eis  datae,  traditae,  et  dimissse 
fuissent;  et  nihilominus  quicquid  per  regem,  et  alios  prasdictos,  et 
eorum  quemlibet  contra  prcemissa  factum  vel  actum  fuerit,  nulluni  peni- 
tus,  et  invalidum,  nulliusque  roboris  vel  momenti  decernimus,  non  ob- 
stantibus,  &c. 

Datum  Romae,  apud  S.  Petrum,  sub  annulo  Piscatoris,  die  5  Jan. 
1531,  pontificates  nostri  anno  octavo. 

Sic  subscriptum.  Evangelista. 

Item  et  sic  deorsum,  die  10  Jan.  1531. 

No.  XX3L.- (Referred  to  at  page  208.) 
Instructions  to  Dr.  E,  Bennet.     Dec.  30,  1531. 

[Original  draft  in  my  possession.] 

The  said  master  reparing  to  Rome,  with  al  convenient  diligens,  shal, 
besides  the  special  matur  conteyned  in  these  instructions,  by  al  other 
wayes  and  meanes  that  canne  be  excogitate  or  divised,  practise  the  de 
lay  and  putting  over  of  the  processe  there,  untyl  such  tyme  as  thempe- 


APPENDIX.  399 

ror  be  passed  in  to  Spayne.  And  with  the  c.  An.1  the  king's  pleasure 
is,  the  said  master  shal  shewe  unto  him  howe  his  grace  taketh  it  most 
kindly  that  the  said  2  is  soo  wel  mynded  to  do  him  gratuite  in  this 

matur,  and  that  the  recompense  therof  shal  not  oonly  be  procured  with 
the  French  king,  as  hath  been  devised  with  breve  effecte  to  ensue,  but  also 
his  highnes,  if  any  benefite  ensue,  wil  soo  further  remembre  it  with  a 
princely  rewarde,  as  he  shal  rejoyce  in  his  labour  employed  for  the 
same.  And  this  offre  the  king's  highnes  maketh  unto  him,  not  to  cor- 
rupte  him,  whose  integrite,  his  grace  knoweth  wel,  neyther  wold  admitte 
it,  ne  his  highnes'  honour,  most  addicle  to  truth  and  justice,  wold  be 
persuaded  soo  to  doo ;  but  oonly  to  animate  and  encorage  him  to 
defende  and  susteyne  the  truth,  and  to  let  and  empech  such  injurye  and 
wrong,  as  is  enterprysed  against  his  highnes,  in  this  his  grace's  matur. 
And  herin  the  said  master  Benet  shal  saye,  that,  if  the  said  cardinal 
coulde,  by  his  polyce,  compasse  the  courte  therin,  in  such  wise  as  the 
same  might  staye  from  giving  sentence,  untyl  such  tyme  as  themperor 
shalbe  passed  in  to  Spayne,  the  king's  highnes  wold  accepte  and  take 
his  doing  in  lieu  of  a  gret  benefite.  And  if  the  said  [cardinal]  may 
dissuade  the  disclosing  of  the  resolution  taken  in  the  Rote,  and  first 
move  that,  for  the  discharge  of  their  judges,  eyther  those  of  the  courte, 
or  other,  repare  to  Avynion,  as  to  a  place  indifferent,  there  to  make 
processe ;  wherin  thought  they  satisfay  not  al,  yet  they  shal  satisfye 
summe  that  saye  it  shuld  soo  be ;  for  that,  in  private  menne's  causes  it 
hath  soo  been  observed  ubi  est  perhorrescencia  ;  and  this  shuld  diminish 
a  gret  peace  of  the  slaunder.  And  if  the  cardinal  shal  mak  difficultie 
herin,  for  fere  of  disclosing  himself  to  be  for  the  king's  parte,  soo  as  in 
noo  wyse  he  canne  stop  the  relation  of  the  Rote,  then  the  said  master 
Benet  shal  devise  with  him  for  stopping  and  letting  the  processe  from 
geving  of  a  sentence ;  wherin  a  chief  and  material  point  to  be  persuaded 
unto  them  of  that  courte  [is],  that,  though  the  king's  highnes  be  con- 
tumax,  yet  they  must  remorari  processum  eorum  :  and  soo  to  bring  to 
ther  remembraunce  the  processe  made  here  in  England  by  two  cardinalls, 
by  virtue  of  a  comission  and  legation  from  Rome.  Soo  as  nowe  that 
is  parte  of  ther  actes,  and  is  of  the  same  cause,  which  not  seen,  vieud, 
and  considred,  they  canne  precede  to  noo  vaylable  ne  honnorable  sen 
tence  ;  for  the  king's  highnes'  contumacie,  as  they  cal  it,  doth  not  altre 
the  right,  ne  discharge  ther  diligence,  for  so  moch  as  they  may  knowe, 
— and  they  may  knowe  that,  which  is  in  the  processe  made  by  ther  auc- 
torite.  Wherfor  the  said  cardinal  shal  saye,  it  shalbe  necessary  that 

1  Perhaps  the  cardinal  Ancona,  who  is  mentioned  in  Bennet's  despatch  of 
Octob.  27.  2  This  blank  is  in  the  original. 


400  APPENDIX. 

they  sende  for  the  said  processe,  and  consider  the  matur  allege  in  the 
same,  lest  ther  sentence  disagree  from  the  acts  therof,  which  shuld  en- 
gendre  a  gret  infamye,  to  ther  slaunder  and  dishonnor.  And  this  matur 
the  king's  highnes  thinketh  the  said  cardinal  might  speke  with  his  hon- 
nor,  and  by  this  meanes  prolonge  and  put  over  the  processe  of  the 
matur,  which  the  king's  highnes  wyl  tak  most  acceptably.  And  if  this 
movith  them,  as  it  aught  to  doo,  thenne  may  there  be  wonne  vi  monethes, 
at  the  lest,  to  sende  for  the  said  processe,  besides  the  tyme  of  disputa- 
cion  there,  upon  the  contents  of  the  same. 

The  said  master  Benet  shal  also,  with  like  reasons  and  persuasions, 
sollicite  the  cardinal  Farnesius,  de  Monte,  the  cardinal  de  Trivulce,  and 
such  other  cardinal  as  shal  favor  the  French  peradventure  ;  unto  whom 
he  shal  also  have  lettres  from  the  French  king  and  the  cardinalls  in 
Fraunce. 

And  where  there  is  delyvered  unto  the  said  master  Benet  two  wryt- 
inges,  signed  with  the  king's  hande,  auctorising  him  to  make  promise  of 
bishopriches  and  promotions,  as  is  conteyned  in  the  same,  the  said  master 
Benet  shal  use  himself  with  wisedom  and  dexterite,  and  deale  with  them 
soo  assuredly,  as  they  delude  not  his  promyses  in  that  behaulf.1 

Henry  VIII.  to  Gardiner,  bishop  of  Westminster,  ambassador  in 
France.     Feb.  9,  1532. 

[Extract  from  the  Original,  in  my  possession.] 
Henry  R.  By  the  King. 

Right  reverende  fader  in  God,  right  trusty,  and  right  wel- 
beloved,  we  grete  you  well ;  and  have  received  your  sundry  lettres  of 
the  xxviith  and  the  xxviiith  daies  of  Januarye,  declaring  aswel  your 
mynde  and  advise,  towching  our  proxy  sent  unto  Rome  by  Mr.  Bonner, 
as  also  the  delaies  and  impedimentes  of  your  so  long  abode  ther,  with 
out  any  resolucion,  or  communicacion  had  with  the  king  our  brother, 
or  his  counsail,  concernyng  the  materiall  poyntes  of  your  charge  *  * 
*  *  ffor  the  whyche  your  diligent  advertisement  in  the  premisses  we 
give  unto  you  our  most  herty  thankes :  advertising  the  same,  that,  as 
touching  the  said  proxy,  noting  and  approving  veray  moche  your  singuler 
wisdome,  sincerite,  and  judgement,  in  the  defaultes  therof,  and  con 
ferring  and  debating  the  same  with  our  lerned  counsail,  we  have  not 

1  [Burnet  (i.  Rec.  103)  has  printed  a  document,  from  the  original,  in  Ben- 
net's  own  handwriting,  by  which  that  agent  undertakes,  on  the  part  of  his 
master,  and  in  the  hope  of  future  services,  that  the  cardinal  of  Ravenna  shall  he 
provided  with  benefices  in  France  of  the  annual  value  of  2000  ducats;  that  lie 
shall  have  the  first  vacant  bishopric  in  England  ;  and  that,  if  such  first  vacant 
bishopric  be  not  that  of  Ely,  he  shall  have  the  option  of  being  translated  to  Ely 
so  soon  as  it  shall  become  vacant. —  T.~] 


APPENDIX.  401 

thought  it  moche  necessary  to  altre  any  thing  therin,  for  this  tyme,  but 
to  differ  the  declaracion  of  our  further  pleasure  in  that  behalf,  untill 
your  retorne  unto  us,  and  unto  suche  tyme  as  we  shalbe  advertised 
from  Rome,  whether  they  shall  doubt  any  thing  ther  of  the  sufficiencye 
of  the  said  proxy,  or  noo.  Ffor  our  said  counsail  here  affirmyth  unto 
us,  that,  nothwithstanding  the  protestacion,  and  that  no  mencion  is 
made  de  causa  principally  neither  that  the  instrument  is  sealed  with 
our  oun  seale,  yet  ther  is  no  cause  why  they  may  lawfully  rejecte  the 
same.  Our  counsail  saith  that  they  at  Rome  may  peradventure 
doubt  of  the  validite  therof ;  albeit,  to  remove  that  doubt,  they  say 
that  the  proxy,  sent  at  ester  last,  being  sealed  with  our  oun  seale,  is 
sufficient  ynough.  And,  in  cace  it  be  not,  they  farther  say,  that  they 
ther  be  bounde  to  signifye  again  unto  us  the  causes  of  thair  said 
doubt,  to  be  opened  and  declared  agayn  by  us,  before  they  shall  pro- 
cede  any  farder  ;  whiche  delay  of  tyme  we  think  can  be  nothing  pre- 
judiciall  to  our  cause,  but  rather  to  serve  and  conduce  to  the  singuler 
beneh'te  of  the  same. 

***** 


Yeven  undre  our  signet,  at  our  manor  of  Grenwich,  the  ixth  daye  of 
Ffebruary. 

No.  XXXI.— (Referred  to  at  page  209.) 

Henry  VIII.  to  Dr.  Edward  Foxe  and  Sir  Francis  Bryan,  his 
Ambassadors  in  France.     July  10,  1532. 

[From  the  original  draft  in  my  possession.] 

Trusty  and  right  welbeloved  we  grete  youe  wel ;  leting  youe  wit,  that, 
sending  this  curror  to  Rome  with  an  expedition  to  Rome,  conteyning 
our  desire  in  certain  requests  to  be  made  to  the  pope,  for  the  spedy  de- 
terminacion  of  our  cause,  we  have  thought  good  to  sende  unto  youe 
lierewith  a  copye  of  the  said  depech,  to  thintent  ye,  riping  your  self  in 
the  same,  might,  conformably  unto  the  same,  labour  and  sollicite  with 
our  derest  brother,  the  king,  and  his  counsail,  theffecte  of  the  same. 
Wherfor  ye  shal  understande  howe  in  our  said  lettres,  which,  desiryng 
thadvice  and  counsail  of  the  Frensh  king,  we  write  in  cipher  to  Doctor 
Benet,  our  subget,  be  conteyned  sixe  several  articles. 

The  first  is  the  declaration  of  the  injuries  by  the  pope  doon  unto  us, 
in  cyting  us  to  Rome,  and  not  admitting  Kerne  to  allege  such  matier 
as  served  for  our  defense.  Wherin  ye  have  alredy  spoken  to  the  French 
king  and  his  counsail  there,  who,  as  ye  have  wryten  unto  us,  and  spe 
cially  the  chauncelor,  doo  agree  unto  the  same. 

VOL.  I.  D  D 


402  APPENDIX. 

The  seconde  is  concerning  the  final  decision  and  judgement  to  be 
geven  in  our  cause,  wherin  we  make  fyve  degrees,  as  ye  shal  perceyve 
in  our  said  lettres,  with  reasons  and  persuasions  to  induce  the  pope  to 
condescende  unto  the  same  ;  according  wherunto  our  pleasure  is,  ye 
make  overture  to  our  derest  brother  and  the  chauncelor,  and  soo  to 
procure  ther  lettres  to  ther  ambassadors  at  Rome,  to  set  forth  the  same 
with  the  pope,  and  therupon  youe  to  geve  advertisement  therof  to  our 
ambassadors  there  accordingly :  Ibrseing  alwaies  that  ye  disclose  no 
thing  there,  eyther  of  any  promyse  to  be  made  by  the  pope  in  wryting, 
as  is  conteyned  in  the  first  degree,  ne  of  money  to  be  ojfred  unto  him 
by  us.1 

The  thirde  article  is  concerning  the  mariage  betwen  the  Duke  of 
Orliaunce  and  the  pope's  niepce,  wherin,  as  youe  may  perceyve  in  our 
said  lettres,  we  advertise  Doctor  Benet,  he  speke  nothing  concerning 
that  matier,  but  upon  advertisement  from  youe  of  the  French  kingis 
good  contentement  in  that  behaulf.  Wherfor  our  pleasure  is,  that,  as 
we  willed  our  secretary  to  wryte  unto  youe,  first  ye  do  the  best  ye 
canne,  to  knowe  in  what  termes  that  mariage  is,  and  therupon  shew 
ing  to  the  French  king  what  we  entended  to  set  forth  for  the  conducing 
of  that  matier,  to  knowe  howe  he  liketh  the  same,  and  therupon  youe 
to  write  to  Doctor  Benet,  as  in  our  said  lettres  to  him  is  specified  ye 
shuld  doo,  to  thintent  he  may  make  overture,  or  forbere  to  speke  therof, 
according  to  our  instructions  in  that  behaulf. 

The  iiiith  is  concerning  the  changing  of  the  pope's  ambassador, 
wherin  ye  have  nothing  to  saye  there,  but  as  occasion  schal  serve  to  say 
he  is  a  Sicilian,  and  oon  who  is  al  addicte  to  themperor. 

The  fifte  is  towelling  the  promyse  of  the  pope,  writen  by  youe  of  the 
French  king's  mouth,  that  he  wil  never  geve  sentence  against  us ; 
which  matier  our  pleasor  is  ye  speke  of  there,  in  such  wise,  as  ye 
thinke  it  may  doo  good  and  noo  hurte. 

The  sixte  is,  to  let  the  entended  meting  betwen  the  pope  and  them 
peror,  wherof  is  a  gret  brute  in  Flaunders  :  wherin  our  pleasor  is,  ye 
attempte  to  enserch  if  any  knowlege  be  therof  in  that  corte,  and  howe 
our  good  brother  and  his  counsail  take  that  matier :  with  whom  our 
pleasure  is,  ye  utterly  persuade,  by  summe  practises,  to  interrupte  the 
said  meting,  as  wherof  shal  ensue  themperor's  estimacion,  with  como- 
dite  there  to  practise  such  thyngs  with  the  princes  of  Italy,  as  may 
hindre  thexecution  of  that  which  might  hereafter  conferre  to  the 

1  [If  Henry  expected  to  succeed  in  bribing  the  pontiff,  he  was  speedily  unde 
ceived.  In  a  despatch  dated  September  the  22d,  Bryan  and  Foxe  tell  the 
king,  that  they  have  just  heard  from  Bennet,  and  "  that  lytyll  flavor  ys  to  be 
lokyd  for  at  the  popys  handy s."  Original  in  my  possession. — T.~\ 


APPENDIX.  403 

French  king's  benefit,  his  heyres  and  successors.  And  for  letting  of 
the  said  meting,  it  semeth  us  the  practise  of  this  mariage  renewed, 
and  summe  abbey  conferred  to  the  cardinal  de  Medicis,  with  an  over 
ture  of  a  manage  for  Duke  Alexander,  soo  as  the  pope  might  perceyve 
a  desire  to  enterteyne  his  holmes'  familie,  these  matiers,  with  mocion  of 
a  meting  at  Avinion,  might  facylly  worke  a  disapoyntement  of  such 
meting,  betwen  themperor  and  the  pope,  be  it  alredy  never  soo  er- 
nestly  entended,  as  we  cannot  thinke  it  is. 

No.  XXXII.  (Referred  to  at  page  213.) 

Cranmers  Protestation,  in  the  Chapter-house  at  Westminster,  before 

his  Consecration. 
[Regist.  Cranm.  fol.  4.] 

In  Dei  nomine,  Amen.  Coram  vobis  autentica  persona,  et  testibus 
fide  dignis  hie  praasentibus,  Ego,  Thomas,  in  Cantuariensem  archiepis- 
copum  electus,  dico,  allego,  et  in  his  scriptis  palam,  publice,  et  expresse 
protestor,  quod,  cum  juramentum,  sive  juramenta,  ab  electis  in  Cantu- 
arienses  episcopos  summo  pontifici  praestari  solita,  me,  ante  meam  con- 
secrationem,  aut  tempore  ejusdem,  pro  forma  potius,  quam  pro  esse  aut 
re  obligatoria,  ad  illam  obtinendam,  [praestare]  oporteat,  non  est,  nee 
erit,  mea3  voluntatis  aut  intentionis  per  hujusmodi  juramentum,  vel 
juramenta,  qualitercumque  verba  in  ipsis  posita  sonare  videbuntur, 
me  obligare  ad  aliquod,  ratione  eorundem,  posthac  dicendum,  faciendum, 
aut  attemptandum,  quod  erit,  aut  esse  videbitur,  contra  legem  Dei,  vel 
contra  illustrissimum  regem  nostrum  Angliae,  aut  rempublicam  hujus 
sui  regni  Anglise,  legesve  aut  praarogativas  ejusdem:  et  quod  non 
intendo,  per  hujusmodi  juramentum  aut  juramenta,  quovis  modo  me 
obligare,  quominus  libere  loqui,  consulere,  et  consentire  valeam,  in 
omnibus  et  singulis  reformationem  religionis  Christiana,  gubernationem 
ecclesiaa  Anglicanee,  aut  praerogativam  coronas  ejusdem,  reipublicaeve 
commoditatem  quoquo  modo  concernentibus,  et  ea  ubique  exequi  et 
reformare,  quaa  mihi  in  ecclesia  Anglicana  reformanda  videbuntur  :  et 
secundum  hanc  interpretationem,  et  intellectum  hunc,  et  non  aliter, 
neque  alio  modo,  dicta  juramenta  me  praestatururn  protestor  et  pro 
fiteer.  Protestorqueinsuper,  quodcumque  juramentum  sit  quod  meus 
procurator  summo  pontifici,  meo  nomine,  antehac  prasstitit,  quod  non 
erat  intentionis  aut  voluntatis  meae  sibi  aiiquam  dare  potestatem,  cujus 
vigore  aliquod  juramentum  meo  nomine  prsestare  potuerit,  contrarium 
aut  repugnans  juramento  per  me  praastito,  aut  in  posterum  praestando, 
prasfato  illustrissimo  Angliaa  regi.  Et  casu  quo  aliquod  tale  contrarium 
aut  repugnansjuramentum  meo  nomine  praestitit,  protestor,  quod  illud, 
me  inscio,  et  absque  mea  authoritate,  pra3stitum,  pro  nullo  et  invalido 

D  D  2 


404  APPENDIX. 

esse  volo  :  Quas  protestationes  in  omnibus  clausulis  et  sententiis  die- 
torum  juramentorum  repetitas  et  reiteratas  volo,  a  quibus  per  aliquod 
meum  factum,  vel  dictum,  quovis  modo  recedere  non  intendo,  nee 
recedam  ;  sed  eas  milii  semper  salvas  esse  volo. 

No.  XXXIII.— (Referred  to  at  page  217.) 
A  Letter  of  Pope  Clement  VII.  to  King  Henry  VIII. 

[Le  Grand,  iii.  558.] 

Charissime  in  Christo  fill  noster,  salutem  et  apostolicam  benedictionem. 
Magno  sumus  in  dolore,  quod  serenitatem  tuam,  quam,  semper  antea, 
pientissimum  filium  nostrum,  et  hujus  sanctae  sedis  perspeximus,  et 
omni  tempore  de  nobis  bene  meritum  fuisse  recordamur,  ab  hoc  tamen 
biennio  proximo  cito  immutatam  esse  sine  rationabili  causa  videmus ; 
cum  tamen  nos  (id  quod  verissime  dicere  possumus)  nihil  erga  earn, 
neque  in  affectu,  neque  in  respectu  amantissimi  patris,  immutati  fueri- 
mus.  Multo  autem  majori  angimur  molestia,  quod  pastorali  officio 
adducti,  et  justitiae  ratione  adstricti,  quicquam  agere  et  decernere  co- 
gimur,  quod  serenitati  tuae  displiceat,  cui  sane  semper  placere  et  satis- 
facere  desideramus.  Verum  quid  agemus?  Negligemusne  justitiam, 
€t  animae  tua3  salutem  ?  An  potius  privates  affectus  tuos,  nostrosque, 
publicis  rationibus  et  divinae  voluntati  anteferemus?  Sic  decet,  fili, 
sic  potius  fiat  a  nobis:  nee  tarn  quid  in  praesens  te  juvet,  quam  quid 
tuo  honori,  officio,  justitiaeque  conveniat,  perpendamus.  Veniet  enim 
tempus,  veniet,  nee  longum  erit,  sicut  in  Domino  confidimus,  cum  tua 
serenitas,  hoc  nubilo  erroris,  quo  nunc  obducitur,  depulso,  restitutaque 
sibi  luce  veritatis,  veterem  nobis  benevolentiam  suam,  quam  maximi 
facimus,  restituet,  fateberisque,  id  quod  est,  nos  ex  publica  persona 
nostra  nihil  aliud  facere,  quam  quod  facimus,  potuisse;  imo  etiam  in- 
dulgentiores  aliquando  fuisse,  quam  justitiae  severitas  expostulat 
Potes  enim,  fili  in  Christo  charissime,  meminisse,  cum  tu  abhinc  qua- 
driennio  a  nobis  studiose  contendisses,  ut  legatum  nostrum  in  regnum 
tuum  mitteremus,  eique  et  alteri  legato,  tune  in  tuo  eodem  regno  ex- 
istenti,  causam  validitatis  matriraonii  inter  te  et  charissimam  in  Christo 
filiam  nostram  Catharinam,  Angliae  reginam,  olim  contracti,  ac  .per 
viginti  annos  et  ultra  continuati,  committeremus ;  nos,  etsi  id  subini- 
quum  videbatur,  causam  ad  preces  tuas  in  tuo  regno  committere, 
tamen  tuae  voluntati  morem  gessimus,  ac  tamdiu  eandem  causam  ibi 
manere  permisimus,  donee  pro  parte  reginae  appellate,  juramentoque 
horrescentiae  praestito,  causam  eandem,  non  in  regnis,  aut  dominiis 
nepotum  reginae,  aut  aliis,  in  quibus  regina  potior  favoribus  esset, 
verum  Roma3,  in  communi  orbis  Christiani  patria,  atque  in  nostro 


APPENDIX.  405 

rotse  auditorio  commisimus,  nobis  postea,  et  sacro  collegio  venerabi- 
lium  fratrum  nostrorum  S.  R.  E,  cardinalium,  referendam,  ac  a  nobis, 
et  dictis  cardinalibus  decidendam  ;  quo  pendente  judicio,  cum  tu  nihil 
innovare,  vel  attentare  in  prejudicium  litis  pendentis  debuisses,  ecce 
nobis,  non  solum  ipsius  reginae  lamentabili  querela,  verum  etiam  mul- 
torum  literis  et  testimoniis  affertur,  te,  non  expectata  ulteriore  nostra 
declaratione,  ipsam  reginam  a  tua  cohabitione  separasse,  et  quandam 
Annam  in  tuum  contubernium  et  cohabitationem  publicam  recepisse. 
Quae  res,  cum  divinam  justitiam,  litispendentiam,  et  authoritatem  nos- 
tram,  tuaeque  animae  salutem,  et  honorem  laederet,  nos  paterno  afFectu 
et  charitate  literas  ad  te  dedimus  tenoris  subsequentis. 

Clemens  papa  VII.  Charissime  in  Christo  fili  noster,  salutem  et 
apostolicam  benedictionem.  Quod  pro  nostra  in  te  benevolentia, 
tuoque  honore,  et  salute,  falsum  esse  cupimus,  relatum  nobis  est,  et  a 
multis  confirmatum,  serenitatem  tuam,  quae  non  solum  antea,  verum 
etiam  post  motam  litem  inter  te  et  charissimam  in  Christo  filiam  nos- 
tram  Catharinam,  Angliae  reginam  illustrissimam,  super  validitate  ma- 
trimonii  inter  vos  contract!,  earn  apud  se,  ut  decebat,  in  sua  regia  curia 
tenuerat,  atque  ut  reginam  et  uxorem  habuerat,  et  tractaverat,  a  certo 
citra  tempore,  earn  non  solum  a  se  et  sua  curia,  sed  etiam  a  civitate,. 
seu  loco  suae  residential  separasse,  alioque  misisse ;  loco  autem  ejus, 
quandam  Annam  in  suum  contubernium,  et  cohabitationem,  publice 
recepisse,  eique  maritalem  affectum  uxori  tuaa  debiturn  exhibere. 
Qua?  res,  fili  charissime,  si  modo  vera  est,  tuque  parumper  animum 
ab  humanis  afFectibus  collegeris,  non  dubitamus  quin,  etiara  tacen- 
tibus  nobis,  perspecturus  sis,  quam  multis  modis  indigna  te  fuerit,. 
vel  ob  contemptum  litispendentiae,  et  judicii  nostri,  vel  ob  scandalum 
ecclesiae,  vel  ob  communis  pacis  perturbationem ;  qua)  omnia  ita 
a  recto  et  religiose  principe,  qualem  te  semper  habuimus,  aliena 
sunt,  ut  tanquam  tuae  naturae  et  consuetudini  repugnantia,  etsi  nobis 
in  dies  magis  confirmantur,  difficilius  tamen  credamus.  Quid  enim 
minus  tibi  et  tuae  probitati  convenit,  quam  hinc  apud  nos,  per  ora- 
tores  et  literas,  super  causa  isthuc  remittenda  instare,  inde  teipsum 
tuo  facto  causam  decidere?  Quid  simile  tui,  armis  et  scriptis  olim 
ecclesiam  et  sanctam  fidem  defendisse,  nunc  tali  facto  ecclesiam  videri 
contemnere?  Jam  vero  communis  salus  et  tranquillitas  a  nullo  un- 
quam  nostri  temporis  rege  acrius,  quam  a  te,  custodita  est,  qui  bellum 
pro  ecclesia  olim  susceptum,  et  gloriose  confectum,  pro  communi 
quiete  deposueris,  semperque  arbiter  quidam  pacis  et  communis  con- 
cordiae  inter  Christianos  principes  conciliandee  fueris  existimatus :  quo 
magis  hasc  nova  de  te  audientes  admiramur,  simul  ac  dolemus,  unum 
hoc  tuum  factum,  si  modo  verum  est,  ab  omni  vitse  tuae  gloria  et  con- 


406  APPENDIX. 

suetudine  discrepare.     Quamobrem,  cum  nee  rem  tantam  non  explo- 
rare  certius,  nee   neglectam   omittere   debeamus,   hanc  ad  te,  quasi 
amantis  et  solliciti    patris    vocem,  praecurrere    voluimus,    antequam 
judicis  ullas   partes  tecum  sumamus.     Faciunt  enim  tuse  celsitudinis 
dignitas,  vetera  tua  in  nos  merita,  nostraque   ex  his   erga  te  bene- 
volentia,  ut  tecum  omni  respectu  et  lenitate  agere  velimus,  sumpta 
parentis  persona,  et  judicis  tantisper  deposita,  donee  ex   tuis  literis 
consilium  progrediendi   capiamus.     Cupimus  quidem,  fili,  ut  diximus, 
haec  penitus  falsa  esse,  aut  non  tarn  aspera,  qua?  nobis   referuntur; 
teque  ipsum  deinceps,  pro  tua  singular!  sapientia,  providere,  ne  cuiquam 
de  serenitate  tua,  omni  virtute  conspicua,  in  hoc  tantum  obloquendi 
detur  occasio.     Si  quis  enim  vel  ex  Catholicis  dolens,  vel  ex  haereticis 
gaudens,  audiat,  te  reginam,  regumque  filiam,  Csesarisque  et  regis  Ro- 
manorum  materteram,  quam  in  uxorem  accepisti,  viginti  amplius  annis 
tecum  commoratam,  prolemque  ex  te  susceptam  habentem,  nunc  a  tuo 
thoro  et  contubernio  procul  amovisse,  aliam  quoque  publice  apud  te 
habere,  non  modo  sine  ulla  licentia  nostra,  verum  etiam  contra  nostram 
prohibitionem,  is  profecto  necesse  est,  ut  sententiam  quodammodo  de 
optimo  principe  ferat,  tanquam  ecclesiam  et  publicam  tranquillitatem 
parvi  faciente ;  quod  nos  fecimus  ab  intentione  et  voluntate  tua  Ion  • 
gissime  abesse :  in  tantum,  ut  si  quis  alius  hoc  idem  in  tuo  regno  au- 
deat,  quod  a  tua  serenitate  factum  dicitur,  nullo  modo  te  probaturmn, 
sed  etiam  severe  vindicaturum,  pro  certo  habeamus.     Quamobrem,  fili, 
etiamsi  tu  rectissime  sentias,  ut  nos  quidem  constantes  credimus,  tanien 
causam  prsebere  rumoribus  et  scandalis  non  debes ;  hoc  prsesertim  tern- 
pore,  tarn  calumnioso  plenoque  ha3resum,  et  aliarum  perturbationum ; 
ne  tuum  factum  latius  pateat  ad  exemplum.     Sunt  enim  facta  regum, 
prresertim  illustrium,  sicut  tua  serenitas  est,  proposita,  quasi  in  specula 
hominibus  crcteris  ad  imitandum.     Nee  praterea  negligenda  tibi  est 
communis  salus,  et  totius  Christianitatis  tranquillitas,  quod  semper  fuit 
optimorum  regum.     Nee,  fili,  debes  serenissimos  Ca3sarem  et  Romano- 
rum  regem  diet®  Catharinse  reginse  nepotes,  nulla  te  prosecutes  contu- 
melia,  hac  tarn  gravi  injuria,  indecisa  lite,  afficere,  et  exinde  pacem  per- 
turbare  universalem,  qua  sola  adversus  imminentem  nobis  Turcam  tuti 
sumus ;  ne  scandali  in  ecclesia  periculi,  in  tota  Christiana  republica  oc- 
casionem  praebeas,  proptereaque  rex  ccelestis,  a  te  irritatus,  tantam  suam 
erga  te  benignitatem  aliqua  severitatis   amaritudine  permisceat.     Te 
igitur,  fili,  per  earn,  qua  semper  te  sumus  prosequuti  benevolentiam, 
semperque,  si  per  te  liceat,  prosequemur,  omni  studio  et  amore  horta- 
mur  et  paterna  charitate  monemus,  ut,  si  haec  vera  sint,  quso  tuam  vete- 
rem  pietatem  et  gloriam  denigrant,  tute  ea  corrigere  velis,  ipsam  Catha- 
rinam  reginam  ad  te  humaniter  revocando,  atquc  hi  eo  reginai  honore, 


APPENDIX.  407 

et  uxoris  quo  decct  aftectu  apud  te  habendo ;  ipsam  vero  Annam  a  pub- 
lico  tuo  convictu,  et  cohabitatione,  propter  scandalum  removendo,  donee 
nostra  sententia  inter  vos  subsequatur :  quod  nos  quidem,  etsi  est  a  te 
debitum,  tibique  est  maxime  futurum  honorificum,  beneficii  loco  rece- 
pisse  a  tua  serenitate  videbimur.  Nam,  quod  te  in  pristina  tua  volun- 
tate  erga  nos,  observantiaque  erga  hanc  sanctam  sedem,  cum  qua  mu- 
tuis  officiis  et  beneficiis  semper  certasti,  conservare  maxime  cupimus, 
summo  sane  cum  dolore  ad  ea  descenderemus  juris  remedia,  quorum 
necessitatem  non  nostra  privata  conturnelia,  quam  tibi  libenter  condo- 
naremus,  sed  Dei  Omnipotentis  honor,  publicseque  utilitatis,  et  tuse 
animse  salutis  ratio  ad  postremum  nobis,  quamquam  invitis,  imponeret : 
sicut  etiam  nuntius  apud  te  noster  hsec  tua3  serenitati  uberius  explicabit. 
Datum  Romse,  apud  S.  Petrum,  sub  annulo  Piscatoris  die  25  Jan.  anno 
1532,  pontificates  nostri  anno  nono. 

Cum  autem,  id  quod  dolentes  referimus,  indies  magis  nobis  confir- 
metur,  et  asseveretur,  licet  ipsse  literso  tibi  per  nuntium  nostrum  reprse- 
sentatse,  ejusque  conformis  sermo  in  idem  te,  nostro  nomine,  hortatus 
fuerit,  ut  a  tanto  scandalo  et  contemptu  ecclesiae  desisteres,  nihilominus 
te  in  separatione  cohabitationis  cum  Catharina  regina,  et  continuatione 
cohabitationis  cum  Anna  pracdictis,  publice  perseverare ;  nos,  cum  neque 
Dei  honorem,  nee  nostrum  officium,  nee  tuse  animae  salutem  negligere 
debeamus,  te,  fili,  sine  tamen  tuorum  jurium  et  causse  pendentis  praqju- 
dicio,  iterum  hortamur,  et  sub  excommunicationis  pcena  monemus,  ut, 
si  praedicta  vera  sint,  eandem  Catharinam  reginam  apud  te  in  reginali 
honore,  ac  solita  cohabitatione  habere,  ipsam  vero  Annam  a  publica 
cohabitatione  tua  rejicere,  intra  unum  mensem,  a  die  praesentationis 
prassentium  tibi  factaa  computandum,  debeas,  donee  nostra  sententia,  et 
declaratio,  inter  vos  fuerit  subsequuta.  Aliter  enim  nos,  dicto  termino 
elapso,  te  et  ipsam  Annam  excommunicationis  prena  innodatos,  et  ab 
omnibus  publice  evitandos  esse  ex  nuric,  prout  ex  tune,  et  e  contra, 
authoritate  apostolica,  declaramus:  et  nihilominus,  tametsi  abhorret 
animus  talia  de  serenitate  tua  opinari,  licetque  id  ipsum  jam  serenitati 
tuse  a  nobis  nostroque  rota?  auditore  et  judice,  cui  hujusmodi  causa  fuit 
commissa,  inhibitum  fuerit,  et  ab  omni,  tarn  humano,  quam  divino,  jure 
etiam  prohibeatur,  tamen  permoti  hominum  fama,  denuo  serenitati  tuae 
inhibemus,  ne,  lite  hujusmodi  coram  nobis,  et  dicto  rota3  auditore,  inde- 
cisa  pendente,  et  sine  sedis  apostolicaB  licentia  speciali,  matrimonium, 
cum  dicta  Catharina  regina,  apostolica  authoritate  contractum,  et  prole 
subsequuta,  tantoque  temporis  spatio  confirmatum,  propria  authoritate 
separare,  aut  divortium  cum  ea  facere ;  neve  cum  dicta  Anna,  aut  quavis 
alia,  matrimonium  contrahere  praesumas ;  irritum,  prout  est,  denuo  de- 


408  APPENDIX. 

cernentes,  si  quid  forsan  atteritari,  super  hoc,  a  tua  serenitate,  aut 
quovis  alio,  quavis  authoritate,  contigerit,  vel  forsan  hactenus  fuerit  at- 
tentatura  ;  sicque  a  quibusvis  judicibus  tarn  extra  Romanam  curiam, 
quam  in  ea,  etiam  S.  R.  E.  cardinalibus,  et  dicti  palatii  auditoribus,  sen- 
tentiari,  definiri,  judicari,  et  interpretari  debere :  sublata  eis  omnibus 
sententiandi,  definiendi,  judicandi,  et  interpretandi  facultate;  non  ob- 
stantibus,  &c.  Datum  Romae  apud  S.  Petrum,  sub  annulo  Piscatoris, 
die  15  Novembris,  1532,  pontificates  nostri  anno  nono.  Sic  scriptum  in 
calce  partis  interioris  ejusdem  brevis,  "  die  23  Decembris,  1532." 
Suprascriptio  autem  prcefati  brevis  a  parte  exteriori  tails  erat :  "  Cha- 
rissimo  in  Christo  fiiio  nostro  Henrico,  Angliae  regi  illustrissimo,  fidei 
defensori." 

No.  XXXIV.— (Referred  to  at  page  220.  J 

A  definitive  Bull  of  Clement  VII.,  declaring  the  Marriage  beliveen 
King  Henry  VIII.  and  Queen  Catherine  to  be  valid. 

[Le  Grand,  iii.  636.] 

Christi  nomine  invocato,  in  throno  justitias  pro  tribunali  sedentes,  et 
solum  Deum  praa  oculis  habentes,  per  hanc  nostram  definitivam  senten- 
tiam,  quam,  de  venerabilium  fratrum  nostrorum,  sanctaa  Romance  ec- 
clesiae  cardinalium,  consistorialiter  coram  nobis  congregatorum,  con- 
silio  et  assensu,  ferimus  in  his  scriptis,  pronuntiamus,  decernimus,  et 
declaramus,  in  causa,  et  causis,  ad  nos  et  sedem  apostolicam,  per  ap- 
pellationem,  per  charissimam  in  Christo  filiam  Catharinam,  Anglian  re- 
ginam  illustrem,  a  nostris  et  sedis  apostolicse  legatis,  in  regno  Anglia? 
deputatis,  interpositam,  legitime  devolutis  et  advocatis,  interprsedictam 
Catharinam  reginam,  et  charissimum  in  Christo  filiumHenricum  VIII., 
Anglias  regem  illustrem,  super  validitate  matrimonii  inter  eosdem  reges 
contracti  et  consummati,  rebusque  aliis  in  actis  causa?  et  causarum 
hujusmodi  latius  deductis,  et  dilecto  filio  Paulo  Capisucio,  causarum 
sacri  palatii  tune  decano,  et,  propter  ipsius  Pauli  absentiam,  venerabili 
fratri  nostro  Jacobo  Simonetae,  episcopo  Pisauriensi,  unius  ex  dicti  pa 
latii  causarum  auditoribus  locum  tenenti,  audiendis,  instruendis,  et  in 
consistorio  nostro  secreto  referendis,  commissis,  et  per  eos  nobis  et 
eisdem  cardinalibus  relatis,  et  mature  discussis,  coram  nobis  pendenti- 
bus,  Matrimonium  inter  praedictos  Catharinam  et  Henricum  Anglias 
reges  contractum,  et  inde  sequuta  qusecunque,  fuisse  et  esse  validum  et 
canonicum,  validaque  et  canonica ;  suosque  debitos  debuisse  et  debere 
sortiri  effectus,  prolemque,  exinde  susceptam  et  suscipiendam,  fuisse, 
et  fore  legitimam  :  Et  prsefatum  Henricum,  Angliae  regem,  teneri,  et 
obligatum  fuisse,  et  fore,  ad  cohabitandum  cum  dicta  Catharina  regina, 


APPENDIX.  409 

ejus  legitima  conjuge,  illamque  maritali  affectione,  et  regio  honore  trac- 
tandum  :  Et  eundem  Henricum,  Angliae  regem,  ad  praemissa  omnia,  et 
singula,  cum  effectu  adimplendum,  condemnandum,  omnibusque  juris 
remediis  cogendum,  et  compellendurn  fore,  prout  condenmamus,  cogi- 
mus,  et  compellimus ;  molestationesque,  et  denegationes,  per  eundem 
Henricum  regem  eidem  Catharinse,  super  invaliditate  ac  fcedere 
dictii  matrimonii,  quomodolibet  factas  et  pra3»titas,  fuisse  et  esse  illicitas, 
et  injustas :  Et  eidem  Henrico  regi  super  illis,  ac  invaliditate  matrimonii 
hujusmodi,  perpetuum  silentium  imponendum  fore,  et  imponimus ;  eun- 
demque  Henricum,  Angliae  regem,  in  expensis  in  hujusmodi  causa  pro 
parte  dictee  CatharinEe  reginas,  coram  nobis  et  dictis  omnibus  legitime 
factis,  condemnandum  fore,  et  condemnamus ;  quarum  expensarum 
taxationem  nobis  in  posterum  reservamus.  Ita  pronuntiavimus.  Lata 
fuit  hsec  sententia  definitiva  Roma3,  in  palatio  apostolico,  publice  in  con- 
sistorio,  die  23  Martii,  1534. 

No.  XXXV.—  (Referred  to  at  page  223.) 

Form  of  an  Oath  to  be  taken  to  the  Issue  of  Henry  and  Ann  Boleyn. 
[Stat.  26  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  2.] 

Ye  shall  swear  to  bear  faith,  truth,  and  obedience  all  only  to  the 
king's  majesty,  and  to  his  heirs,  of  his  body  of  his  most  dear  and  entirely 
beloved  lawful  wife  queen  Ann  begotten,  and  to  be  begotten ;  and 
further,  to  the  heirs  of  our  said  sovereign  lord,  according  to  the  limita 
tion  in  the  statute,  made  for  surety  of  his  succession  in  the  crown  of 
this  realm,  mentioned,  and  contained,  and  not  to  any  other  within  this 
realm,  nor  foreign  authority,  or  potentate.  And  in  case  any  oath  be 
made,  or  hath  been  made  by  you,  to  any  person  or  persons,  that  then 
ye  to  repute  the  same  as  vain  and  adnihilate ;  and  that  to  your  cunning, 
wit,  and  uttermost  of  your  power,  without  guile,  fraud,  or  other  undue 
mean,  ye  shall  observe,  keep,  maintain,  and  defend  the  said  act  of  suc 
cession,  and  all  the  whole  eifects  and  contents  thereof,  and  all  other  acts 
and  statutes  made  in  confirmation,  or  for  execution  of  the  same,  or  for 
any  thing  therein  contained.  And  this  ye  shall  do  against  all  manner 
of  persons,  of  what  estate,  dignity,  degree,  or  condition  soever  they  be ; 
and  no  wise  do  or  attempt,  nor  to  your  power  suffer  to  be  done  or 
attempted,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  thing  or  things,  privately  or 
apertly,  to  the  let,  hinderance,  damage,  or  derogation  thereof,  or  of  any 
part  of  the  same,  by  any  manner  of  means,  or  for  any  manner  of  pre 
tence.  So  help  you  God,  and  all  saints,  and  the  holy  evangelists. 


410  APPENDIX. 

No.  XXXVI.— (Referred  to  at  page  225.) 
A  Bull  dated  anno  1538,  reciting  the  former  Bull  of  1535,  and  further 

adding  what  followeth. 
[Summa  Constitutionum,  300.] 

Dum  autem  postea  ad  dictarum  literarum  executionem  deveniendum 
esse  statuissemus,  cum  nobis  per  nonnullos  principes  et  alias  insignes 
personas  persuaderetur,  ut  ab  executione  hujusmodi  per  aliquantum 
temporis  supersederemus,  spe  nobis  data,  quod  interim  ipse  Henricus  rex 
ad  cor  rediret  et  resipisceret,  nos,  qui  (ut  hominum  natura  fert)  facile 
credebamus  quod  desiderabamus,  dictam  executionem  suspendimus ; 
sperantes  (ut  spes  nobis  data  erat)  ex  ipsa  suspensione  correctionem  et 
resipiscentiam,  non  autem  pertinaciam,  et  obstinationem,  ac  majorem 
delirationem  (ut  rei  effectus  edocuit)  proventuram.  Cum  itaque  resi- 
piscentia,  etcorrectio  hujusmodi,  quam  tribus  fere  annis  expectavimus, 
non  solum  postea  sequuta  non  sit,  sed  ipse  Henricus  rex  quotidie  magis 
se  in  sua  feritate  et  temeritate  confirmans,  in  nova  etiam  scelera  pro- 
ruperit ;  quippe  cum,  non  contentus  vivorum  prselatorum  et  sacerdo- 
tum  crudelissima  trucidatione,  etiam  in  mortuos,  et  eos  quidem  quos, 
in  sanctorum  numerum  relates,  universalis  ecclesia  pluribus  sreculis 
venerata  est,  feritatem  exercere  non  expavit.  Divi  enim  Thomae,  Can- 
tuariensis  archiepiscopi  (cujus  ossa,  quse  in  dicto  regno  Anglisa  potis- 
simum,  ob  innumera  ab  omnipotenti  Deo  illic  perpetrata  miracula, 
summa  cum  veneratione  in  area  aurea  in  civitate  Cantuariensi  serva- 
bantur,  postquam  ipsum  divum  Thomam,  ad  majorem  religionis  con- 
temptum,  in  judicium  vocari,  et  tanquam  contumacem  damnari,  ac 
proditorem  declarari  fecerat,  exhumari,  et  comburi)  cineres  in  ventum 
spargijussit;  omnem  plane  cunctarum  gentium  crudelitatem  superans, 
cum  ne  in  bello  quidem  hostes  victores  saBvire  in  mortuorum  cadavera 
solid  sint.  Ad  hsec  omnia  ex  diversorum  regum  etiam  Anglorum,  et 
aliorum  principum  liberalitate  donaria,  ipsi  arcsD  appensa,  quse  multa 
et  maximi  pretii  erant,  sibi  usurpavit ;  nee  putans  ex  hoc  satis  se  injuriaj 
religioni  intulisse,  monasterium  divo  illi  Augustino,  a  quo  Christianam 
fidem  Angli  acceperunt,  in  dicta  civitate  dicatum,  omnibus  thesauris 
(qui  etiam  multi  et  magni  erant)  spoliavit :  et  sicut  se  in  belluam  trans- 
mutavit,  ita  etiam  belluas,  quasi  socias  suas,  honorare  voluit ;  feras 
videlicet  in  dicto  monasterio,  expulsis  monachis,  intromittendo ;  genus 
quidem  sceleris,  non  modo  Christi  fidelibus,  sed  etiam  Turcis  inauditum, 
et  abominandum.  Cum  itaque  morbus  iste  a  nullo,  quantumvis  peri- 
tissimo  medico,  alia  cura  sanari  possit  quam  putridi  membri  abscissione ; 
nee  valeret  cura  hujusmodi,  absque  eo  quod  nos  apud  Deum  causam 
hanc  nostram  efficiamus,  ulterius  retardari,  ad  dictarum  literarum  (quas 
ad  hoc,  ut  Henricus  rex  ejusque  complices,  fautores,  adhterentes,  con- 


APPENDIX.  4 1 1 

sultores,  ct  sequaces,  etiam  super  excessibus  per  cum  novissime,  ut 
preefertur,  perpetratis,  intra  terminum  eis,  quoad  alia,  per  alias  nostras 
literas  praedictas  respective  prasfixum,  ut  se  excusent,  alias  poenas  in  ipsis 
literis  contentas  incurrant,  extendimus,  et  ampliamus)  publicationem, 
et  deinde,  Deo  duce,  ad  executionem  procedere  omnino  statuimus,  &c. 
Datum  Roma?,  apud  S.  Petrum,  anno  incarnationis  Dominica?  1538, 
decimo  sexto  Cal.  Januarii,  pontificates  nostri  anno  quinto. 
Visa  J.  Sauli.  Blosius  Bap.  Motta. 

No.  XXXVII.— (Referred  to  at  page  225.) 

Extract  from  a  paper,  under  the  sign  manual,  entitled  "Instructions 
given  by  the  kings  highnes  to  the  right  reverende  father  in  God,  his 
right  trusty  and  right  welbeloved  counsailor,  the  bisshop  of  Winches 
ter,  whom  his  majestic  at  this  tyme  sendeth  to  his  good  brother  and 
perpetual  allye,  the  Frenche  king,  for  the  causes  and  purposes  her- 
aftre  ensuyng"  October,  1535. 

[Original  in  my  possession.] 

Henry  R. 

****** 

Ffirst,  the  said  bisshoppe  (Gardiner)  shall,  uppon  his  arryval  at  the 
Frenche  courte,  at  his  first  accesse  to  the  Frenche  king's  presence,  after 
delyverance  unto  him  of  his  grace's  lettres  credential,  say,  *  *  * 
Albeit  his  highnes  and  his  hole  realme,  knowing  the  groundes  of  the 
bisshop  of  Rome's  malicious  procedings  against  his  grace,  doo  worthely 
laughe  at  the  same,  being  non  noveltie  unto  them,  but  a  thing  long  befor 
certainly  loked  for,  and,  nowe  it  is  doon,  estemed  as  it  is  worthie, 
the  emanacion  and  sending  furth  nevertheles  wherof  doth  reduce  to  his 
graces  memory  the  said  Frenche  king's  saiengs,  at  their  late  being  togi- 
ther  at  Bulloyn,  in  effect,  that  his  highnes  shuld  fynde  the  bisshoppes  of 
Rome  at  length  but  false,  untrue,  and  malicious  persons,  yet  his  highnes 
no  lesse  thankfully  accepting  the  gratuitie  and  kindnes  of  his  said  good 
brother,  in  this  frendely  parte,  thenne  the  same  deserveth  and  requireth, 
hathe  not  only  sent  the  said  bisshop  to  him,  to  conclude  uppon  suche 
overtures,  as  were,  on  his  behaulf,  made  unto  his  grace  by  the  said 
Bay  lie  of  Troys,  but  also  to  signifie  unto  him  that  this  his  frendely  de- 
monstracion  of  his  syncere  and  moost  perfite  affection  and  love  towards 
his  grace  is  soo  entred  and  digested  in  the  botom  of  his  brest  and  sto- 
make,  as  he  may  assure  himself,  for  correspondence,  to  have  his  highnes, 
his  realmes,  and  dominions,  like  a  most  perfite  and  an  assured  frende, 
to  adhere  and  cleve  unto  him.  And  here  the  said  bisshop  shal  not  for 
get  to  make  declaracion  of  the  king's  highnes  procedings  in  his  realme, 
openyng  unto  the  same  Frenche  king,  that,  whatsoever  false  reaports 
and  untrue  surmyses  shuld  be,  by  any  men,  made  unto  him,  to  slaunder 


412  APPENDIX. 

the  truthe,  the  king's  highnes  nevertheles  is,  in  al  his  doings,  as  becometh 
a  christen  prince  to  be,  confessing  Christe  and  his  true  doctryne ;  ab 
horring,  detesting,  punishing,  and  pursuing  al  heresie,  without  any  other 
innovation,  thenne  suche  as  the  necesskie  of  the  truth  hath  required :  de 
claring  unto  him,  howe  al  suche  ceremonies  and  ordres,  in  the  church 
and  religion  of  Christe,  as  may,  by  any  temperance,  be  suffered,  be  in 
the  realme  of  Englande  untouched  and  unmoved.  And  for  that,  \vhiche 
indede  is  doon,  whiche  is,  in  effecte,  only  against  the  bisshop  of  Rome, 
the  said  bisshop  shal  offre  himselfe  there  ready,  with  his  lerned  men,  to 
defende  and  mayntain  the  same ;  and  likewise  to  offre  that  lerned  men,  of 
the  king's  highnes  dominions,  shal  repare  thither,  to  have  conference 
with  suche  as  he  will  appointe  for  that  mattier  ;  not  doubting  but  thenne 
the  Frenche  king  shal  see  more  thenne  he  yet  doth,  and  perceyve  howe 
he  hathe  been  blynded  and  abused,  to  suffre  that  dominion  of  the  said 
bisshop  of  Rome.  And  the  said  bisshop  shal  also,  in  this  communica 
tion,  or  whenne  he  shal  have  therunto  oportunytie,  declare  unto  the  said 
Frenche  king  the  cause  of  the  sending  of  the  bisshop  of  Herforde  to  the 
duke  of  Saxe  and  other,  whiche  is,  specially  and  chiefly,  to  declare  the 
synceritie  of  his  procedings  :  like  as  the  said  Frenche  king  used  wayes 
and  meanes  howe  to  purge  himself  to  the  Germaynes  of  suche  slaunders, 
as  wer  raysed  upp  against  him  by  themperor,  soo  the  king's  highnes 
forseeth  to  defende  himselfe,  in  al  parties,  against  the  malicious  slaun 
ders  of  the  bisshop  of  Rome  ;  who  being  soo  unshamefast  to  slaunder  his 
majestic  soo  falsely  to  the  said  Frenche  king,  being  his  assured  ffrende, 
wil,  of  lightlywood,  spitt  out  his  venom  elles  where  moche  more  plen 
tifully  :  Adding  therunto,  that  the  bisshop  of  Herforde  hath  also  in 
commission  to  knowe  their  astate  in  religion,  to  thin  tent  that,  uppon 
communication  and  deliberation  of  the  truth,  an  unytie  in  Christes  reli 
gion  might  be  established,  wherin  the  king's  highnes  wil,  by  all  wayes 
and  meanes,  employe  al  his  labour,  study,  travail,  and  diligence.  In 
whiche  communication,  and  in  al  other  conferences  to  be  had  by  the 
said  bishop  with  the  said  Frenche  king,  or  any  of  his  agents  or  coun- 
sailors,  the  same  shal  nevertheles,  by  all  wayes  and  meanes  to  him  pos 
sible,  endevour  himself  to  enserche  and  desciphre  whither  the  said 
Frenche  king  be  in  harte  soo  ernestly  mynded  and  bent  to  observe, 
contynue,  and  encreace  the  amytie  and  frendeship,  contracted  be- 
twene  him  and  the  king's  highnes,  and  to  concurre  with  his  grace 
in  al  fortunes,  as,  by  his  lettres  and  message,  he  pretendethe  in  out- 
warde  visage,  demonstracion,  and  countenance;  or  whither,  by  the 
color  of  the  king's  amytie,  he  myndethe  to  make  his  oune  benefite 
and  proffit  otherwise,  in  his  affayres  with  themperor  and  the  bisshop  of 
Rome,  or  eyther  of  them  :  ffor  the  better  conducing  wherof  to  the 


APPENDIX.  413 

king's  desired  purpose,  besides  suche  good  meanes  as  the  said  bisshoppe 
of  himself  shall  there  devise,  as  occasion  and  oportunytie  may  serve 
him,  or  that  he  shal  lerne  by  the  relacion  of  Sir  John  Wallop,  the 
king's  ambassador  there  resident,  who  canne  instructe  him  howe  al 
things  do  there  precede,  the  said  bisshop  shal,  in  treating  with  the  said 
Frenche  king,  and  his  agents,  ffirst  and  befor  al  other  things,  induce 
them  to  capitulate,  by  expresse  words,  in  this  newe  treatie,  that, 
whereas  the  bisshop  of  Rome  hath  no  we,  of  late,  directed  a  brief  to  the 
said  Frenche  king,  conteyning  most  slaunderous,  dishonorable,  and 
therto  most  false,  untrue,  and  ungodly  words  and  matier,  sounding 
greatly  to  the  reproche  and  prejudice,  not  only  of  the  king's  highnes, 
and  his  royal  estate,  but  also  of  the  prehemynence  and  dignitie  of  all 
other  the  kings  and  princes  of  Christendom  ;  and,  in  the  said  brief  hath 
also  summoned  the  said  Frenche  king,  not  only  to  relinquishe  and 
abandon  the  frendeship  and  amytie  whiche  is  already,  by  diverse  and 
sundry  moost  straight  and  indissoluble  bonds,  established  betwene  him 
and  his  highnes,  but  also  to  invade,  molest,  and  make  warre  against  his 
grace  and  his  realme,  whensoever  he  shuld,  by  the  said  bisshop,  be 
therunto  required;  declaring  openly  therby  to  the  world  of  what 
spirite  he  is,  and  whose  place  he  supplieth  here  in  erth,  that  is  to  saye, 
his,  who  is  the  veray  auctor  of  all  sedicion,  untruth,  and  mischief,  The 
said  Frenche  king  shal  not  only  binde  himself  to  take  the  king's 
highnes  parte,  at  all  tymes,  and  against  all  powers,  as  wel  against 
themperor,  the  bisshop  of  Rome,  and  his  see,  as  against  all  other  aucto- 
rities,  princes  and  potentates,  notwithstanding  any  bull,  brief,  censure, 
interdiction,  excommunication,  or  other  processe,  by  what  name  or 
title  so  ever  it  be  called,  or  any  other  request,  offree,  sute,  desire, 
commandement,  or  processe,  whiche,  from  the  said  bisshop  of  Rome, 
his  see,  themperor,  the  general  counsail,  or  any  other  auctoritie,  be  or 
shalbe,  at  any  tyme  hereaftre,  sent  forth,  published,  divulgate,  pro 
nounced,  or  declared  to  the  contrary,  of  whatsoever  forme,  tenor,  or 
eifecte  the  same  shalbe  conceyaved,  but  also,  by  a  certain  daye,  to  bo 
in  the  said  treatie  limited,  to  signifie  by  his  lettres,  to  be  directed  to  the 
said  bisshop  of  Rome,  plainly  and  frankly,  that,  forasmoche  as  the  said 
Frenche  king  thoroughly  knoweth  the  hole  progresse  and  circumstance 
of  the  king's  procedings  to  be  established  uppon  just,  honorable,  and 
vertuous  groundes,  aswel  in  separating  himselfe  from  his  first  incest, 
and  unlawfull  matrymonie,  as  in  the  relinquisshing  and  extirpacion  of 
the  said  bishoppes  auctoritie,  and  that,  therfore,  his  sentences,  censures, 
and  processes,  made,  or  to  be  made,  or  given  against  the  same,  be  inique 
and  repugnant  to  Godds  lawes,  and  to  the  good  policye  and  commune 
wealth  of  christen  princes  and  their  realmes,  he  wil,  with  al  his  force, 


414  APPENDIX. 

strength,  and  puissaunce,  assist  and  inayntain  his  grace  in  the  defence 
of  the  same,  against  all  men,  and  against  all  auctorities,  notwithstanding 
any  inhibicions,  censures,  excommunications,  or  interdictions,  to  be 
sentfurth  against  the  said  Frenche  king,  or  his  realme,  in  that  behaulf. 
Whiche  article  in  case  they  shal  holly  agree  unto,  the  said  bisshop  shal 
not  only  thenne  begynne  his  treatie  with  the  same,  couched,  in  effecte, 
as  it  is  expressed,  but  also,  by  all  good  dexteritie,  hast  the  dispeche  of 
the  said  lettres,  whiche  lettres  he  shal  desire  he  may  conceyve  himself, 
or,  at  the  lest,  in  case  he  cannot  obteyne  that,  he  shal  see  that  the  same 
be  conceyved  in  suche  forme  and  sentence,  as  theffecte  therof  may  be 
correspondent  to  the  words  of  the  treatie.  And  if  they  shal  condescend 
to  the  first  parte  of  this  article,  that  is,  to  take  the  king's  parte  in 
suche  forme  as  is  expressed,  and  graunte  and  binde  the  said  Frenche 
king  to  be  and  contynue  frendes  to  the  king's  highnes,  against  al  men, 
and  to  defende  his  personne,  realme,  and  dominions  against  all  men, 
aswel  specially  expressing  themperor  and  the  bisshop  of  Rome,  as>  in 
general  termes,  all  other  princes,  potentates,  and  auctorities,  and  yet 
shal  nevertheles,  uppon  somme  respecte,  refuse  to  write  suche  lettres, 
albeit  the  king's  pleasure  is,  the  said  bisshop  shal  as  moche  presse 
them  therunto,  as  by  his  wisedom  he  shal  think  conveniente,  and,  by 
all  fayre  and  dulce  wayes  and  meanes  he  canne  excogitate,  persuade 
them  to  the  same,  yet,  if  ffinally  he  shall  see  and  perceyve  they  wil  in 
noo  wise  give  place  to  his  persuasions  therin,  he  shal  thenne,  with  good 
words,  countenance,  and  demonstracion,  passe  over  the  same,  and  pro- 
cede  to  the  capitulacion  of  the  first  parte  therof  accordingly.1 

No.  XXXVIII.— (Referred  to  at  pagelkl.) 

Jl  Decree  of  the  University  of  Cambridge  against  the  Popes 

Supremacy. 

[Fuller,  History  of  Cambridge,  107.] 

Universis  sanctae  matris  ecclesia?  filiis,  ad  quos  preesentes  literse  perven- 
turae  sunt,  ccetus  omnis  regentiumet  non  regentium  academiae  Cantabrigi- 
ensis,  salutem  in  omnium  Salvatore  Jesu  Christo.  Ciim  de  Romani  pontifi - 
cis  potestate,  quam  ex  Sacris  Scripturis  sibi  vendicat  in  omnibus  Christia- 
norum  provinciis,  et  in  hoc  regno  Angliaa  longo  jam  temporis  tractu  exer- 
cuit,  hisce  nunc  diebus  qusestio  exorta  sit,  ac  nostra  de  ea  re  sententia  ro- 
garetur,  viz.,  An  pontifex  Romanus  habeat  a  Deo  in  Scriptura  Sacra  sibi 

1  [From  a  subsequent  despatch,  dated  the  7th  of  December,  it  appears  that 
Francis  instantly  and  indignantly  rejected  these  proposals.  The  admiral  of 
France,  speaking  on  behalf  of  his  master,  told  Gardiner,  that  he  "  wold  lose 
his  lied,  his  armes,  his  legges,  and  be  yvel  hancleled,  or  ever  he  wold  consent  to 
any  thing-  against  the  bisshop  of  Rome." — Henry  to  Gardiner,  Original,  in  my 
possession. — Z1.] 


APPENDIX,  415 

concessam  majorem  authoritatem,  et  potestatem,  in  hoc  regno  Angliae, 
quam  quivis  alius  externus  episcopus  ?  nos  aequum  esse  putavimus,  ut, 
ad  dictae  quaestionis  veritatem  eruendam,  omni  studio  incumberemus,  ac 
nostratn  de  ea  re  sententiam  et  censuram  tandem  orbi  proferremus. 
Nempe  ad  hoc  potissimum  academias  olim  a  principibus  institutas  fuisse 
persuasi,  ut  et  populus  Christianus  in  lege  Dei  erudiatur,  et  falsi  errores 
(si  qui  exorirentur)  cura  et  solicitudine  doctorum  theologorum  penitus 
convelli  ac  profligari  possent.  Quamobrem  de  praedicta  quaestione  deli- 
beraturi,  more  riostro  convenientes,  ac  matura  consultatione  consilia 
conferentes,  quo  modo  et  ordine  ad  investigationem  veritatis  certius 
procederetur ;  atque  omnium  tandem  suffrages  selectis,  quibusdam  ex 
doctissimis  sacrae  theologia3  professoribus,  baccalaureis,  et  aliis  magistris, 
ea  cura  demandata,  ut  scrutatis  diligentissime  Sacrae  Scripturae  locis, 
illisque  collatis,  referrent  ac  renuntiarent,  quid  ipsi  dictse  quaestioni  res- 
pondendum  putarent.  Quoniam,  auditis,  perpensis,  ac  post  publicam 
super  dicta  quaestione  disputationem,  matura  deliberatione  discussis  his, 
quae  in  quaestione  praedicta  alterutram  partem  statuere  aut  convel- 
lere  possent,  ilia  nobis  probabiliora,  validiora,  veriora  etiam,  ac  certiora 
esse,  ac  genuinum  ac  sincerum  Scripturae  sensum  referre  visa  sunt,  quae 
negant  Romano  pontifici  talem  potestatem  a  Deo  in  Scriptura  datam 
esse.  Illis  igitur  persuasi,  et  in  unam  opinionem  convenientes,  ad  quaes- 
tionem  praedictam  ita  respondendum  decrevimus,  et  in  his  scriptis,  no 
mine  totius  universitatis,  respondemus,  ac  pro  conclusione  verissima 
asserimus,  quod  Romanus  pontifex  non  habet  a  Deo  concessam  sibi 
majorem  authoritatem,  aut  jurisdictionem  in  hoc  regno  Angliae,  quam 
quivis  alius  episcopus  externus.  Atque  in  fidem  et  testimonium  hujus- 
modi  nostrae  responsionis,  et  affirmationis,  his  literis  sigillum  nostrum 
commune  curavimus  apponi.  Datum  Cantabrigiae,  ex  domo  nostra  re- 
gentium,  secundo  die  mensis  Maii,  anno  ab  orbe  per  Christum  re- 
dempto  1534. 

Jl  Decree  of  the  University  of  Oxford  against  the  Popes  Supremacy. 
[Wood,  Hist.  Univ.  Oxon.  258.] 

Universis  sanctae  matris  ecclesiae  filiis,  etc.  Johannes  permissione  Dei 
Lincolniensis  episcopus,  almae  universitatis  Oxon.  cancellarius,  nee  non 
universus  doctorum,  ac  magistrorum  regentium,  et  non  regentium,  in 
eadem  ccetus,  salutem  in  Authore  salutis.  Cum  illustrissimus  simul  ac 
potentissimus  princeps  et  dominus  noster,  Henricus  VIII.,  Dei  gratia 
Angliae  et  Franciae  rex,  fidei  defensor,  et  dominus  Hiberniae,  assiduis 
petitionibus  et  querelis  subditorum  suorum,  in  summo  suo  parliamento 
quibusdam  habitis,  super  potestatem,  et  jurisdictionem  Romani  episcopi, 
variisque  urgentibus  causis  contra  eundem  episcopum  tune  ibidem  ex- 


416  APPENDIX. 

positis  et  declaratis,  aditus  atque  rogatus  fuerit,  ut  comraodis  suoruin 
subditorum  in  hac  parte  consuleret,  et  querelis  satisfaceret ;  ipse,  tan- 
quam  prudentissimus  Solomon,  solicite  curans  quas  suorurn  sunt  subdi 
torum,  quibus,  in  hoc  regno,  divina  disponente  dementia,  prseest,  alti- 
usque  secum  considerans,  quo  pacto  commodissimas  regno  suo  saneiret 
leges ;  denique  ante  omnia  praecavens,  ne  contra  Sacram  Scripturam 
aliquid  statuat,  quam  vel  ad  sanguinem  usque  defendere  semper  fuit 
eritque  paratissimus,  solerti  suo  ingenio,  sagacique  industrial,  quandam 
quaestionem  ad  hanc  suam  academiam  Oxon.  publice  et  solemniter  per 
doctores,  et  magistros  ejusdem,  disputandam  transmisit,  viz.,  An  Roma- 
nus  episcopus  habeat  majorem  aliquam  jurisdictionern,  sibi  a  Deo  col- 
latam  in  Sacra  Scriptura,  in  hoc  regno  Angliae,  quam  alius  quivis  ex- 
ternus  episcopus  ?  mandavitque,  ut,  habita  super  hac  quaestione  matura 
deliberatione,  et  examinatione  diligenti,  quid  Sacra?  Literae  in  hac  parte 
nostro  judicio  statuunt,  eundem  certiorem  facere  sub  instrumento,  sigillo 
communi  nostrae  universitatis  communito,  et  confirmato,  curaremus. 
Nos  igitur,  cancellarius,  doctores,  et  magistri  prsedicti,  ssepe  reminis- 
eentes,  ac  penitius  apud  nos  pensitantes,  quanta  sit  virtus,  sanctitas,  ac 
nostrae  professioni  quam  consona  res  et  debita,  submission!,  obedientise, 
reverentiae,  ac  charitati  congrua,  praemonstrare  viam  justitiae  ac  veritatis 
cupientibus  Sacrarum  Literarum  vestigiis  insistere,  securiorique  et  tran- 
quilliori  conscientia  in  lege  Domini  sacram,  ut  aiunt,  suam  anchoram 
reponere,  non  potuimus  non  invigilare  sedulo,  quatenus,  in  petitione 
tarn  justa  et  honesta  tanto  principi  (cui  velut  auspicatissimo  nostro 
supremo  moderatori  obtemperare  tenemur)  modis  omnibus  satisfacere- 
mus.  Post  susceptam  itaque  per  nos  quaestionem  antedictam,  cum 
omni  humilitate,  devotione,  ac  debita  reverentia,  convocatis  undique 
dictce  nostrae  academiae  theologis,  habitoque  complurium  dierum  spatio, 
ac  deliberandi  tempore  satis  amplo,  quo  interim  cum  omni,  qua  potui 
mus,  diligentia,  justitise  zelo,  religione,  et  conscientia  incorrupta,  per- 
scrutaremur  tarn  Sacrae  Scripturae  libros,  quam  super  iisdem  approba- 
tissimos  interpretes,  et  eos  quidem  saape  et  saepius  a  nobis  evolutos,  et 
exactissime  collates,  repetitos,  et  examinatos  ;  deinde  et  disputationibus 
solemnibus,  palam,  et  publice  habitis,  et  celebratis,  tandem  in  hanc  sen- 
tentiam  unanimiter  omnes  convenimus,  ac  Concordes  fuimus,  viz.,  Ro- 
manum  episcopum  majorem  aliquam  jurisdictionem  non  habere  sibi  a 
Deo  collatam  in  Sacra  Scriptura,  in  hoc  regno  Anglise,  quam  alium 
quemvis  externum  episcopum.  Quam  nostram  assertionem,  sententiam, 
sive  determinationem,  sic  ex  deliberatione  discussam,  ac  juxta.  exigen- 
tiam  statutorum  et  ordinationum  hujus  nostrae  universitatis  per  nos 
conclusam,  publice  totius  academiae  consensu,  tanquam  veram,  certain, 
sacraeque  Scripturae  consonam  affirmamus,  et  testificamur  per  prajsentes. 


APPENDIX.  417 

In  quorum  omnium  et  singulorum  fidem  et  testimonium,  has  literas 
fieri,  et  sigillo  nostrae  universitatis  communi  roborari  fecimus.  Datum 
in  domo  congregationis  nostrae,  27  die  mensis  Julii,  anno  a  Christo 
nato  1534-. 

No.  XXXIX.—  (Referred  to  at  page  243.) 

The  Oath  of  Supremacy. 
[Stat.  28  Hen.  VIII.  c.  10.] 

I,  A.  B.  do  utterly  testify,  and  declare  in  my  conscience,  that  the 
king's  majesty  is  the  only  supreme  governor  of  this  realm,  and  of  all 
other  his  highness's  dominions,  and  countries,  as  well  in  all  spiritual  or 
ecclesiastical  things,  or  causes,  as  temporal;  and  that  no  foreign  prince, 
person,  prelate,  state,  or  potentate,  hath,  or  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdic 
tion,  power,  superiority,  pre-eminence,  or  authority,  ecclesiastical  or 
spiritual,  within  this  realm.  And,  therefore,  I  do  utterly  renounce  and 
forsake  all  foreign  jurisdictions,  powers,  superiorities,  and  authorities : 
and  do  promise,  that,  from  henceforth,  I  will  bear  faith  and  true  alle 
giance  to  the  king's  highness,  his  heirs,  and  lawful  successors ;  and,  to 
my  power,  will  assist  and  defend  all  jurisdictions,  privileges,  pre-emi 
nences,  and  authorities  granted  and  belonging  to  the  king's  highness, 
his  heirs  or  successors,  or  limited  and  annexed  to  the  imperial  crown  of 
this  realm. 

[Stat.  35  Hen.  VIII.  c.  1,  sec.  11.] 

I,  A.  B.  having  now  the  veil  of  darkness  of  the  usurped  power,  au 
thority,  and  jurisdiction  of  the  see  and  bishop  of  Rome,  clearly  taken 
away  from  mine  eyes,  do  utterly  testify,  and  declare  in  my  conscience* 
that  neither  the  see,  nor  the  bishop  of  Rome,  nor  any  foreign  potestate 
hath,  nor  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdiction,  power,  or  authority,  within 
this  realm,  neither  by  God's  law,  nor  by  any  other  just  law  or  means. 
And  though  by  sufferance,  and  abuse  in  times  past,  they  aforesaid  have 
usurped,  and  vindicated  a  feigned  and  an  unlawful  power  and  jurisdiction 
within  this  realm,  which  hath  been  supported  till  few  years  past :  there 
fore,  because  it  might  be  deemed,  and  thought  thereby,  that  I  took,  or 
take  it  for  just  and  good,  I  therefore  now  do  clearly  and  frankly  re 
nounce,  refuse,  relinquish,  and  forsake  that  pretended  authority,  power, 
and  jurisdiction,  both  of  the  see  and  bishop  of  Rome,  and  of  all  other 
foreign  powers ;  and  that  I  shall  never  consent,  nor  agree,  that  the  fore^ 
said  see,  or  bishop  of  Rome,  or  any  of  their  successors,  shall  practise, 
exercise,  or  have  any  manner  of  authority,  jurisdiction,  or  power,  within 
this  realm,  or  any  other  the  king's  realms  or  dominions,  nor  any  foreign 

E  E 


418  APPENDIX. 

potestate,  of  what  estate,  degree,  or  condition  soever  he  be ;  but  that  T 
shall  resist  the  same  at  all  times,  to  the  uttermost  of  my  power :  and 
that  I  shall  bear  faith,  truth,  and  true  allegiance  to  the  king's  majesty, 
and  to  his  heirs  and  successors,  declared,  or  hereafter  to  be  declared  by 
the  authority  of  the  act  made  in  the  session  of  the  parliament  holden 
at  Westminster  the  fourteenth  day  of  January,  in  the  five  and  thirtieth 
year,  and  in  the  said  act  made  in  the  eight  and  twentieth  year  of  the 
king's  majesty's  reign  :  and  that  I  shall  accept,  repute,  and  take  the 
king's  majesty,  his  heirs,  and  successors,  (when  they,  or  any  of  them 
shall  enjoy  his  place)  to  be  the  only  supreme  head  in  earth,  under  God, 
of  the  church  of  England  and  Ireland,  and  of  all  other  his  highness' 
dominions ;  and  that  with  my  body,  cunning,  wit,  and  uttermost  of  my 
power,  without  guile,  fraud,  or  other  undue  mean,  I  shall  observe,  keep, 
maintain,  and  defend  all  the  king's  majesty's  styles,  titles,  and  rights, 
with  the  whole  effects  and  contents  of  the  acts  provided  for  the  same, 
and  all  other  acts  and  statutes  made,  or  to  be  made,  within  this  realm, 
in  and  for  that  purpose,  and  the  derogation,  extirpation,  and  extinguish 
ment  of  the  usurped  and  pretended  authority,  power,  and  jurisdiction 
of  the  see  and  bishop  of  Rome,  and  all  other  foreign  potestates,  as  afore : 
and  also  as  well  the  said  statute,  made  in  the  said  eight  and  twentieth 
year,  as  the  statute  made  in  the  said  session  of  the  parliament,  holden 
the  five  and  thirtieth  year  of  the  king's  majesty's  reign,  for  establish 
ment  and  declaration  of  his  highness'  succession,  and  all  acts  and  statutes 
made,  and  to  be  made,  in  confirmation  and  corroboration  of  the  king's 
majesty's  power  and  supremacy  in  earth  of  the  church  of  England,  and 
of  Ireland,  and  of  other  the  king's  dominions,  I  shall  also  defend  and 
maintain  with  my  body  and  goods,  and  with  all  my  wit  and  power :  and 
this  I  shall  do  against  all  manner  of  persons,  of  what  estate,  dignity, 
degree,  or  condition  they  be,  and  in  no  wise  do,  or  attempt,  nor  to  my 
power  suffer,  or  know  to  be  done,  or  attempted,  directly  or  indirectly, 
any  thing  or  things,  privily  or  apertly,  to  the  let,  hinderance,  damage, 
or  derogation  of  any  of  the  said  statutes,  or  of  any  part  of  them,  by 
any  manner  of  means,  or  for,  or  by  any  manner  of  pretence.  And,  in 
case  any  oath  hath  been  made  by  me,  to  any  person  or  persons,  in 
maintenance,  defence,  or  favour  of  the  see  and  bishop  of  Rome,  or  his 
authority,  jurisdiction,  or  power,  or  against  any  the  statutes  aforesaid, 
I  repute  the  same  as  vain  and  annihilate,  and  shall  wholly  and  truly 
observe  and  keep  this  oath.  So  help  me  God,  all  saints,  and  the  holy 
evangelists. 


APPENDIX.  419 

No.  XL.— (Referred  to  at  page  255.) 

The  Supplication  of  Beggars,  by  Simon  Fish,  of  Gray's  Inn. 
[Foxe,  ii.  229.] 

To  the  King,  our  Sovereign  Lord, 

Most  lamentably  complaineth  their  woeful  misery  unto  your 
highness,  your  poor  daily  beadsmen,  the  wretched  hideous  monsters,  on 
whom  scarcely,  for  horror,  any  eye  dare  look,  the  foul  unhappy  sort  of 
lepers,  and  other  sore  people,  needy,  impotent,  blind,  lame,  and  sick, 
that  live  only  by  alms,  how  that  their  number  is  daily  so  sore  increased, 
that  all  the  alms  of  all  the  well  disposed  people  of  this  your  realm  is  not 
half  enough  for  to  sustain  them,  but  that,  for  very  constraint,  they  die 
for  hunger.  And  this  most  pestilent  mischief  is  come  upon  your  said 
poor  bedemen,  by  the  reason  that  there  is,  in  the  times  of  your  noble 
predecessors  passed,  craftily  crept  into  this  your  realm  another  sort,  not 
of  impotent,  but  of  strong,  puissant,  and  counterfeit  holy  and  idle  beg 
gars,  and  vagabonds,  which,  since  the  time  of  their  first  entry,  by  all 
the  craft,  and  wiliness  of  Satan,  are  now  increased  under  your  sight, 
not  only  into  a  great  number,  but  also  into  a  kingdom.  These  are  not 
the  herds,  but  ravenous  wolves,  going  in  herd's  clothing,  devouring  the 
flock ;  bishops,  abbots,  priors,  deacons,  archdeacons,  suffragans,  priests, 
monks,  canons,  friars,  pardoners,  and  somners.  And  who  is  able  to 
number  this  idle  ravenous  sort,  which  (setting  all  labour  aside)  have 
begged  so  importunately,  that  they  have  gotten  into  their  hands  more 
than  the  third  part  of  all  your  realm?  The  goodliest  lordships, 
manors,  lands,  and  territories  are  theirs.  Besides  this,  they  have  the 
tenth  part  of  all  the  corn,  meadow,  pasture,  grass,  wood,  colts,  calve?, 
lambs,  pigs,  geese,  and  chickens :  over  and  besides  the  tenth  part  of 
every  servant's  wages,  the  tenth  part  of  wool,  milk,  honey,  wax,  cheese, 
and  butter  :  yea,  and  they  look  so  narrowly  upon  their  profits,  that  the 
poor  wives  must  be  countable  to  them  for  every  tenth  egg,  or  else  she 
getteth  not  her  rights  at  Easter,  and  shall  be  taken  as  an  heretick. 
Hereto  have  they  their  four  offering  days.  What  money  pull  they  in 
by  probates  of  testaments,  privy  tithes,  and  by  men's  offerings  to  their 
pilgrimages,  and  at  their  first  masses  ?  Every  man  and  child,  that  is 
buried,  must  pay  somewhat  for  masses  and  diriges  to  be  sung  for  him, 
or  else  they  will  accuse  their  friends  and  executors  of  heresy.  What 
money  get  they  by  mortuaries  ?  by  hearing  of  confessions  (and  yet  they 
keep  thereof  no  counsel),  by  hallowing  of  churches,  altars,  super-altars, 
chapels,  and  bells?  by  cursing  of  men,  and  absolving  them  again  for 
money  ?  What  a  multitude  of  money  gather  the  pardoners  in  a  year  ? 
How  much  money  get  the  somners,  by  extortion  in  a  year,  by  citing 

E  E2 


420  APPENDIX. 

the  people  to  the  commissaries'  court,  and  afterward  releasing  the  appa- 
rents  for  money  ?  Finally,  the  infinite  number  of  begging  friars,  what 
get  they  in  a  year  ? 

Here,  if  it  please  your  grace  to  mark,  you  shall  see  a  thing  far  out 
of  joint.  There  are  within  your  realm  of  England  52,000  parish 
churches  ;  aud  this  standing,  that  there  be  but  ten  households  in  every 
parish,  yet  are  there  520,000  households  :  and  of  every  of  these  house 
holds  have  every  of  the  five  orders  of  friars  a  penny  a  quarter,  for  every 
order ;  that  is,  for  all  the  five  orders,  five-pence  a  quarter  of  every 
house ;  that  is,  for  all  the  five  orders,  twenty-pence  a  year  of  every 
house.  Summa  520,000  quarters  of  angels  ;  that  is,  260,000  half  an 
gels  :  summa  130,000  angels.  Summa  totalis  43,333/.  6s.  8d.  whereof, 
not  four  hundred  years  past,  they  had  not  one  penny. 

Oh  !  grievous  and  painful  exaction,  thus  yearly  to  be  paid ;  from  the 
which  the  people  of  your  noble  predecessors,  the  kings  of  the  ancient 
Britons,  ever  stood  free !  And  this  will  they  have,  or  else  they  will 
procure  him,  that  will  not  give  it  to  them,  to  be  taken  as  an  heretick. 
What  tyrant  ever  oppressed  the  people  like  this  cruel  and  vengeable 
generation  ?  What  subjects  shall  be  able  to  help  their  prince,  that  be 
after  this  fashion  yearly  polled  ?  What  good  Christian  people  can  be 
able  to  succour  us,  poor  lepers,  blind,  sore,  and  lame,  that  be  thus  yearly 
oppressed?  Is  it  any  marvel  that  your  people  so  complain  of 
poverty  ?  Is  it  any  marvel  that  the  taxes,  fifteenths,  and  subsidies 
that  your  grace  most  tenderly,  of  great  compassion,  hath  taken  among 
your  people,  to  defend  them  from  the  threatened  ruin  of  their  common 
wealth,  have  been  so  slothfully,  yea  painfully  levied,  seeing  almost  the 
uttermost  penny,  that  might  have  been  levied,  hath  been  gathered  be 
fore  yearly,  by  this  ravenous  insatiable  generation  ?  Neither  the  Danes 
nor  the  Saxons,  in  the  time  of  the  ancient  Britons,  should  ever  have  been 
able  to  have  brought  their  armies,  from  so  far,  hither  into  our  land,  to  have 
conquered  it,  if  they  had  had,  at  that  time,  such  a  sort  of  idle  gluttons, 
to  find  at  home.  The  noble  king  Arthur  had  never  been  able  to  have 
carried  his  army  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  to  resist  the  coming  down 
of  Lucius,  the  emperor,  if  such  yearly  exactions  had  been  taken  of  his 
people.  The  Greeks  had  never  been  able  to  have  so  long  continued 
at  the  siege  of  Troy,  if  they  had  had  at  home  such  an  idle  sort  of  cor 
morants,  to  find.  The  ancient  Romans  had  never  been  able  to  have 
put  all  the  whole  world  under  their  obeisance,  if  their  people  had  been 
thus  yearly  oppressed.  The  Turk  now,  in  your  time,  should  never 
have  been  able  to  get  so  much  ground  of  Christendom,  if  he  had,  in  his 
empire,  such  a  sort  of  locusts,  to  devour  his  substance.  Lay,  then,  these 
sums  to  the  foresaid  third  part  of  the  possessions  of  the  realm,  that  ye 


APPENDIX.  421 

may  see  whether  it  draw  nigh  unto  the  half  of  the  whole  substance  of 
the  realm,  or  not ;  so  shall  ye  find,  that  it  draweth  far  above. 

Now  let  us  then  compare  the  number  of  this  unkind  idle  sort  unto 
the  number  of  the  lay  people,  and  we  shall  see  whether  it  be  indiffe 
rently  shifted  or  not,  that  they  should  have  half.  Compare  them  to 
the  number  of  men  ;  so  are  they  not  the  hundredth  person.  Compare 
them  to  men,  women,  and  children  ;  so  are  they  not  the  four  hundredth 
person  in  number.  One  part,  therefore,  in  four  hundred  parts  divided, 
were  too  much  for  them,  except  they  did  labour.  What  an  unequal 
burden  is  it,  that  they  have  half  with  the  multitude,  and  are  not  the 
four  hundredth  person  of  their  number  ?  What  tongue  is  able  to  tell, 
that  ever  there  was  any  commonwealth  so  sore  oppressed  since  the 
world  first  began  ?  And  what  doth  all  this  greedy  sort  of  sturdy,  idle,  holy 
thieves  with  these  yearly  exactions,  that  they  take  of  the  people  ?  Truly, 
nothing,  but  exempt  themselves  from  the  obedience  of  your  grace; 
nothing,  but  translate  all  rule,  power,  lordship,  authority,  obedience, 
and  dignity,  from  your  grace  unto  them  ;  nothing,  but  that  all  your 
subjects  should  fall  into  disobedience  and  rebellion  against  your  grace, 
and  be  under  them,  as  they  did  unto  your  noble  predecessor  king  John; 
which,  because  that  he  would  have  punished  certain  traitors,  that  had 
conspired  with  the  French  king,  to  have  deposed  him  from  his  crown 
and  dignity  (among  the  which,  a  clerk,  called  Stephen,  whom,  after 
ward,  against  the  king's  will,  the  pope  made  bishop  of  Canterbury,  was 
one),  interdicted  his  land ;  for  the  which  matter,  your  most  noble  realm 
wrongfully  (alas,  for  shame  !)  hath  stood  tributary,  not  unto  any  kind 
of  temporal  prince,  but  unto  a  cruel,  devilish  blood-supper,  drunken  in 
the  blood  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  of  Christ  ever  since.  Here  were  an 
holy  sort  of  prelates,  that  thus  cruelly  could  punish  such  a  righteous 
king,  all  his  realm  and  succession,  for  doing  right;  here  were  a  chari 
table  sort  of  holy  men,  that  could  thus  interdict  a  whole  realm,  and 
pluck  away  the  obedience  of  the  people  from  their  natural  liege  lord, 
and  king,  for  none  other  cause,  but  for  his  righteousness ;  here  were  a 
blessed  sort,  not  of  meek  herds,  but  of  blood-suppers,  that  could  set  the 
French  king  upon  such  a  righteous  prince,  to  cause  him  to  lose  his 
crown  and  dignity,  to  make  effusion  of  the  blood  of  his  people,  unless 
this  good  and  blessed  king,  of  great  compassion,  more  fearing  and 
lamenting  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  his  people,  than  the  loss  of  his 
crown  and  dignity,  against  all  right  and  conscience,  had  submitted  him 
self  unto  them.  Oh  case  most  horrible !  that  ever  so  noble  a  king, 
realm,  and  succession  should  thus  be  made  to  stoop  to  such  a  sort  of 
blood-suppers  !  Where  was  his  sword,  power,  crown,  and  dignity  be 
come,  whereby  he  might  have  done  justice  in  this  matter?  Where 


422  APPENDIX. 

was  their  obedience  become,  that  should  have  been  subject  under  his 
high  power  in  this  matter  ?  Yea,  where  was  the  obedience  of  all  his 
subjects  become,  that,  for  maintenance  of  the  commonwealth,  should 
have  holpen  him  manfully  to  have  resisted  these  blood-suppers,  to  the 
shedding  of  their  blood  ?  Was  it  not  altogether,  by  their  policy,  tran 
slated  from  'this  good  king  unto  them  ? 

Yea,  and  what  do  they  more  ?  Truly  nothing,  but  apply  themselves, 
by  all  the  sleights  they  may,  to  have  to  do  with  every  man's  wife,  every 
man's  daughter,  and  every  man's  maid;  that  cuckoldry  and  bawdry 
should  reign  over  all,  among  your  subjects ;  that  no  man  should  know 
his  own  child ;  that  their  bastards  might  inherit  the  possessions  of  every 
man,  to  put  the  right-begotten  children  clean  beside  their  inheritance^ 
in  subversion  of  all  estates,  and  godly  order.  These  be  they,  that,  by 
their  abstaining  from  marriage,  do  let  the  generation  of  the  people, 
whereby  all  the  realm,  at  length,  if  it  should  be  continued,  shall  be 
made  desert  and  uninhabited.  These  be  they  that  have  made  100,000 
idle  whores  in  your  realm,  which  would  have  gotten  their  living  ho 
nestly,  in  the  sweat  of  their  faces,  had  not  their  superfluous  riches 
elected  them  to  unclean  lust  and  idleness :  these  be  they  that  corrupt 
the  whole  generation  of  mankind  in  your  realm,  that  catch  the  pox  of 
one  woman,  and  bear  them  unto  another ;  that  be  burnt  with  one 
woman,  and  bear  it  to  another ;  that  catch  the  lepry  of  one  woman,  and 
bear  it  unto  another :  yea,  some  one  of  them  shall  boast  among  his  fel 
lows,  that  he  hath  meddled  with  a  hundred  women.  These  be  they, 
that,  when  they  have  once  drawn  men's  wives  to  such  incontinency, 
spend  away  their  husbands'  goods,  make  the  women  to  run  away  from 
their  husbands ;  yea,  run  away  themselves,  both  with  wife  and  goods, 
bringing  both  man,  wife,  and  children,  to  idleness,  theft,  and  beggary. 
Yea,  who  is  able  to  number  the  great  and  broad  bottomless  ocean  sea- 
full  of  evils,  that  this  mischievous  and  sinful  generation  may  lawfully 
bring  upon  us  unpunished  ? 

Where  is  your  sword,  power,  crown,  and  dignity  become,  that  should 
punish,  by  punishment  of  death,  even  as  other  men  are  punished,  the 
felonies,  rapes,  murders,  and  treasons,  committed  by  this  sinful  gene 
ration?  Where  is  their  obedience  become,  that  should  be  under  your 
high  power  in  this  matter  ?  Is  it  not  altogether  translated,  and  exempt 
from  your  grace  unto  them  ?  Yes,  truly.  What  an  infinite  number  of 
people  might  have  been  increased,  to  have  peopled  the  realm,  if  this 
sort  of  folk  had  been  married  like  other  men  ?  What  breach  of  matri 
mony  is  there  brought  in  by  them  ?  Such,  truly,  as  was  never  since 
the.  world  began,  among  the  whole  multitude  of  the  heathen.  Who  is 
she  that  will  set  her  bands  to  work,  to  get  three-pence  a-day,  and  may 


APPENDIX.  423 

have,  at  least,  twenty-pence  a-day  to  sleep  an  hour  with  a  friar,  a  monk, 
or  a  priest?  What  is  he  that  would  labour  for  a  groat  a-day,  and  may 
have,  at  least,  twelve-pence  a-day,  to  be  bawd  to  a  priest,  a  monk,  or  a 
friar?  What  a  sort  are  there  of  them,  that  marry  priests'  sovereign 
ladies,  but  to  cloak  the  priests'  incontinency,  and  that  they  may  have  a 
living  of  the  priests  themselves,  for  their  labour  ?  How  many  thousands 
doth  such  lubricity  bring  to  beggary,  theft,  and  idleness,  which  should 
have  kept  their  good  name,  and  have  set  themselves  to  work,  had  [there] 
not  been  this  excessive  treasure  of  the  spiritualty  ?  What  honest  man  dare 
take  any  man  or  woman  into  his  service,  that  hath  been  at  such  a  school 
with  a  spiritual  man  ?  Oh  !  the  grievous  shipwreck  of  the  common, 
wealth,  which,  in  ancient  time,  before  the  coming  of  these  ravenous 
wolves,  were  so  prosperous,  that  then  there  were  but  few  thieves ;  yea, 
theft,  at  that  time,  was  so  rare,  that  Ctesar  was  not  compelled  to  make 
penalty  of  death  upon  felony,  as  your  grace  may  well  perceive  in  his 
Institutes.  There  was  also,  at  that  time,  but  few  poor  people,  and  yet 
they  did  not  beg,  but  there  was  given  them  enough,  unasked :  for  there 
was,  at  that  time,  none  of  these  ravenous  wolves,  to  ask  it  from  them, 
as  it  appeareth  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Is  it  any  marvel,  though, 
there  be  now  so  many  beggars,  thieves,  and  idle  people  ?  Nay,  truly. 
What  remedy?  Make  laws  against  them ?  I  am  in  doubt  whether  ye 
be  able.  Are  they  not  stronger  in  your  own  parliament  house  than 
yourself?  What  a  number  of  bishops,  abbots,  and  priors  are  lords  of 
your  parliament?  Are  not  all  the  learned  men  of  your  realm  in  fee 
with  them,  to  speak  in  your  parliament  house  for  them,  against  your 
crown,  dignity,  and  common-wealth  of  your  realm,  a  few  of  your  own 
learned  counsel  only  excepted  ?  What  law  can  be  made  against  them, 
that  may  be  available?  Who  is  he  (though  he  be  grieved  very  sore) 
that,  for  the  murder  of  his  ancestor,  ravishment  of  his  wife,  of  his  daugh 
ter,  robbery,  trespass,  maim,  debt,  or  any  other  offence,  dare  lay  it  to 
their  charge,  by  any  way  of  action  ?  And,  if  he  do,  then  is  he,  by  and 
by,  by  their  wiliness,  accused  of  heresy ;  yea,  they  will  so  handle  him> 
ere  he  pass,  that,  except  he  will  bear  a  faggot  for  their  pleasure,  he 
shall  be  excommunicate,  and  then  be  all  his  actions  dashed.  So  cap 
tive  are  your  laws  unto  them,  that  no  man,  whom  they  list  to  excom 
municate,  may  be  admitted  to  sue  any  action  in  any  of  your  courts.  If 
any  man,  in  your  sessions,  dare  be  so  hardy  to  indict  a  priest  of  any  such 
crime,  he  hath,  ere  the  year  go  out,  such  a  yoke  of  heresy  laid  in  his 
neck,  that  it  maketh  him  wish  he  had  not  done  it.  Your  grace  may  see 
what  a  work  there  is  in  London ;  how  the  bishop  rageth,  for  indicting 
of  certain  curates  of  extortion  and  incontinency,  the  last  year,  in  the 
wardmote  quest.  Had  not  Richard  Hunnc  commenced  an  action  of 


424  APPENDIX. 

prtemunire  against  a  priest,  he  had  been  yet  alive,  arid  no  heretic  at 
all,  but  an  honest  man.  Did  not  divers  of  your  noble  progenitors,  see 
ing  their  crown  and  dignity  run  into  ruin,  and  to  be  thus  craftily  trans 
lated  into  the  hands  of  this  mischievous  generation,  make  divers  sta 
tutes  for  the  reformation  thereof,  among  which  the  statute  of  Mortmain 
was  one,  to  the  intent,  that,  after  that  time,  they  should  have  no  more 
given  unto  them  ?  But  what  availed  it?  Have  they  not  gotten  into 
their  hands  more  lands  since,  than  any  duke  in  England  hath,  the  sta 
tute  notwithstanding?  Yea,  have  they  not,  for  all  that,  translated  into 
their  hands,  from  your  grace,  half  your  kingdom  thoroughly,  the  name 
only  remaining  to  you,  for  your  ancestors'  sake  ?  So  you  have  the 
name,  and  they  the  profit.  Yea,  I  fear,  if  I  should  weigh  all  things  to 
the  utmost,  they  would  also  take  the  name  to  them,  and  of  one  kingdom 
make  twain,  the  spiritual  kingdom,  as  they  call  it  (for  they  will  be 
named  first),  arid  your  temporal  kingdom.  And  which  of  these  two 
kingdoms  suppose  you  is  like  to  over-grow  the  other  ?  Yea,  to  put  the 
other  clean  out  of  memory  ?  Truly,  the  kingdom  of  the  blood -suppers. 
For  to  them  is  given  daily  out  of  your  kingdom  ;  and  that,  that  is  once 
given  them,  never  cometh  from  them  again.  Such  laws  have  they,  that 
none  of  them  may  either  give  or  sell  anything.  What  law  can  be  made 
so  strong  against  them,  that  they,  either  with  money,  or  else  with  other 
policy,  will  not  break  or  set  at  nought  ?  What  kingdom  can  endure, 
that  ever  giveth  thus  from  him,  and  receiveth  nothing  again  ?  Oh  !  how 
all  the  substance  of  your  realm,  your  sword,  power,  crown,  dignity,  and 
obedience  of  your  people,  runneth  headlong  into  the  insatiable  whirlpool 
of  these  greedy  gulphs,  to  be  swallowed  and  devoured !  Neither  have 
they  any  other  colour,  to  gather  these  yearly  exactions  into  their  hands, 
but  that  they  say  they  pray  for  us  to  God,  to  deliver  our  souls  out  of  the 
pains  of  Purgatory ;  without  whose  prayers,  they  say,  or,  at  least,  without 
the  pope's  pardon,  we  could  never  be  delivered  thence :  which,  if  it  be  true, 
then  it  is  good  reason  that  we  give  them  all  these  things,  although  it 
were  an  hundred  times  as  much.  But  there  be  many  men  of  great  lite 
rature  and  judgment,  that,  for  the  love  they  have  unto  the  truth,  and 
unto  the  common-wealth,  have  not  feared  to  put  themselves  into  the 
greatest  infamy  that  may  be,  in  abjection  of  all  the  world,  yea,  in  peril 
of  death,  to  declare  their  opinion  in  this  matter  ;  which  is,  that  there  is 
no  Purgatory,  but  that  it  is  a  thing  invented  by  the  covetousness  of  the 
spiritualty,  only  to  translate  all  kingdoms  from  other  princes  unto  them  ; 
and  that  there  is  not  one  word  spoken  of  it  in  all  Holy  Scripture.  They 
say  also,  that,  if  there  were  a  Purgatory,  and  also,  if  that  the  pope,  with 
his  pardons,  may,  for  money,  deliver  one  soul  thence,  he  may  deliver 
him  as  well  without  money ;  if  he  may  deliver  one,  he  may  deliver  a 


APPENDIX.  425 

thousand ;  if  he  may  deliver  a  thousand,  he  may  deliver  them  all,  and 
so  destroy  Purgatory  ;  and  then  he  is  a  cruel  tyrant,  without  all  charity, 
if  he  keep  them  there,  in  prison  and  in  pain,  till  men  will  give  him 
money.  Likewise,  say  they,  of  all  the  whole  sort  of  the  spiritualty,  that, 
if  they  will  pray  for  no  man,  but  for  them  that  give  them  money,  they 
are  tyrants,  and  lack  charity,  and  suffer  those  souls  to  be  punished  and 
pained  uncharitably,  for  lack  of  their  prayers.  This  sort  of  folks  they 
call  heretics ;  these  they  burn,  these  they  rage  against,  put  to  open 
shame,  and  make  them  bear  faggots.  But  whether  they  be  heretics 
or  no,  well  I  wot  that  this  Purgatory,  and  the  pope's  pardons,  are  all 
the  cause  of  the  translation  of  your  kingdom  so  fast  into  their  hands. 
Wherefore,  it  is  manifest,  it  cannot  be  of  Christ.  For  he  gave  more  to 
the  temporal  kingdom  ;  he  himself  paid  tribute  to  Ccesar  ;  he  took  no 
thing  from  him ;  but  taught,  that  the  high  powers  should  be  always 
obeyed ;  yea,  he  himself  (although  he  were  most  free,  lord  of  all,  and 
innocent)  was  obedient  unto  the  high  powers,  unto  death.  This  is  the 
great  scab,  why  they  will  not  let  the  New  Testament  go  abroad  in  your 
mother  tongue,  lest  men  should  espy  that  they,  by  their  cloaked  hypo 
crisy,  do  translate  thus  fast  your  kingdom  into  their  hands ;  that  they 
are  not  obedient  unto  your  high  power ;  that  they  are  cruel,  unclean, 
unmerciful,  and  hypocrites  ;  that  they  seek  not  the  honour  of  Christ, 
but  their  own  ;  that  remission  of  sins  is  not  given  by  the  pope's  pardon, 
but  by  Christ,  for  the  sure  faith  and  trust  that  we  have  in  him.  Here 
may  your  grace  well  perceive,  that,  except  you  suffer  their  hypocrisy 
to  be  disclosed,  all  is  like  to  run  into  their  hands ;  and,  as  long  as  it  is 
covered,  so  long  shall  it  seem  to  every  man  to  be  a  great  impiety  not 
to  give  to  them.  For  this,  I  am  sure,  your  grace  thinketh  (as  the  truth 
is),  I  am  as  good  a  man  as  my  father ;  Why  may  I  not  as  well  give 
them  as  much  as  my  father  did  ?  And  of  this  mind,  I  am  sure,  are  all 
the  lords,  knights,  squires,  gentlemen,  and  yeomen  in  England ;  yea, 
and,  until  it  be  disclosed,  all  your  people  will  think,  that  your  statute 
of  Mortmain  was  never  made  with  any  good  conscience,  seeing  that  it 
taketh  away  the  liberty  of  your  people,  in  that  they  may  not  as  lawfully 
buy  their  souls  out  of  Purgatory,  by  giving  to  the  spiritualty,  as  their 
predecessors  did,  in  times  past. 

Wherefore,  if  ye  will  eschew  the  ruin  of  your  crown  and  dignity, 
let  their  hypocrisy  be  uttered,  and  that  shall  be  more  speedful  in  this 
matter,  than  all  the  laws  that  may  be  made,  be  they  never  so  strong : 
for,  to  make  a  law  to  punish  any  offender,  except  it  were  more  to  give 
other  men  an  example  to  beware  how  they  commit  such  like  offence, 
what  should  it  avail  ?  Did  not  Dr.  Allen  most  presumptuously,  now  in 
your  time,  against  his  allegiance,  all  that  ever  he  could,  to  pull  from  you 


426  APPENDIX. 

the  knowledge  of  such  pleas,  as  belong  unto  your  high  courts,  into1 
another  court,  in  derogation  of  your  crown  and  dignity?  Did  not 
also  Dr.  Horsey  and  his  complices  most  heinously  (as  all  the  world 
knoweth)  murder  in  prison  that  honest  merchant,  Richard  Hunne,  for 
that  he  sued  your  writ  of  prEemunire  against  a  priest  that  wrongfully 
held  him  in  plea,  in  a  spiritual  court,  for  a  matter,  whereof  the  know 
ledge  belongeth  unto  your  high  courts  ?  And  what  punishment  was 
there  done  that  any  man  may  take  example  of,  to  beware  of  like  offence  ? 
Truly  none,  but  that  the  one  paid  500/.  (as  it  is  said),  to  the  building 
of  your  chamber:  and,  when  that  payment  was  once  passed,  the  captains 
of  his  kingdom  (because  he  fought  so  manfully  against  your  crown  and 
dignity),  have  heaped  to  him  benefice  upon  benefice,  so  that  he  is 
rewarded  ten  times  as  much.  The  other,  as  it  is  said,  paid  600/.  for 
him  and  his  complices ;  which,  because  that  he  had  likewise  fought 
so  manfully  against  your  crown  and  dignity,  was,  immediately  as  he 
had  obtained  your  most  gracious  pardon,  promoted  by  the  captains  of 
the  kingdom,  with  benefice  upon  benefice,  to  the  value  of  four  times  as 
much.  Who  can  take  example  of  punishment  to  beware  of  such  like 
offence  ?  Who  is  he  of  their  kingdom  that,  will  not  rather  take  courage 
to  commit  like  offence,  seeing  the  promotions  that  fell  to  these  men  for 
their  so  offending?  So  weak  and  blunt  is  your  sword,  to  strike  at  one 
of  the  offenders  of  this  crooked  and  perverse  generation  !  And  this  is 
by  reason,  that  the  chief  instrument  of  your  law,  yea  the  chief  of  your 
council,  and  he  which  hath  your  sword  in  his  hand,  to  whom  also  all 
the  other  instruments  are  obedient,  is  always  a  spiritual  man,  which 
hath  ever  such  an  inordinate  love  unto  his  own  kingdom,  that  he  will- 
maintain  that,  though  all  the  temporal  kingdoms  and  commonwealths  of 
the  world  should  therefore  utterly  be  undone.  Here  leave  we  out  the 
greatest  matter  of  all,  lest  that  we,  declaring  such  an  horrible  carrion  of 
evil  against  the  ministers  of  iniquity,  should  seem  to  declare  the  one 
only  fault,  or  rather  the  ignorance  of  our  best  beloved  minister  of 
righteousness,  which  is  to  be  hid  till  he  may  be  learned,  by  these  small 
enormities  that  we  have  spoken  of,  to  know  it  plainly  himself. 

But  what  remedy  to  relieve  us,  your  poor,  sick,  lame,  and  sore  beads 
men  ?  To  make  many  hospitals  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  people? 
Nay,  truly,  the  more  the  worse ;  for  ever  the  fat  of  the  whole  founda 
tion  hangeth  on  the  priests'  beards.  Divers  of  your  noble  predecessors,, 
kings  of  this  realm,  have  given  lands  to  monasteries,  to  give  a  certain* 
sum  of  money  yearly  to  the  poor  people ;  whereof,  for  the  ancienty  of 
the  time,  they  give  never  one  penny.  They  have  likewise  given  to- 
them,  to  have  a  certain  [number]  of  masses  said  daily  for  them, 
whereof  they  say  never  one.  If  the  abbot  of  Westminster  should  sing 


APPENDIX.  427 

every  day  as  many  masses  for  his  founders,  as  he  is  bound  to  do  by  his 
foundation,  a  thousand  monks  were  too  few.  Wherefore,  if  your  grace 
will  build  a  sure  hospital,  that  never  shall  fail  to  relieve  us  all,  your 
poor  beadsmen,  then  take  from  them  all  these  things.  Set  these  sturdy 
loobies  abroad  in  the  world,  to  get  them  wives  of  their  own,  to  get 
their  living  with  their  labour,  in  the  sweat  of  their  faces,  according  to 
the  commandment  of  God  (Gen.  i),  to  give  other  idle  people,  by  their 
example,  occasion  to  go  to  labour.  Tie  these  holy  idle  thieves  to  the 
carts,  to  be  whipped  naked  about  every  market  town,  till  they  fall  to 
labour,  that  they,  by  their  importunate  begging,  take  not  away  the 
alms  that  the  good  Christian  people  would  give  unto  us,  sore,  impotent, 
miserable  people,  your  beadsmen.  Then  shall  as  well  the  number  of 
our  foresaid  monstrous  sort,  as  of  the  bawds,  whores,  thieves,  and  idle 
people  decrease ;  then  shall  these  great  yearly  exactions  cease ;  then 
shall  not  your  sword,  power,  crown,  dignity,  and  obedience  of  your 
people  be  translated  from  you  ;  then  shall  you  have  full  obedience  of 
your  people ;  then  shall  the  idle  people  be  set  to  work  ;  then  shall 
matrimony  be  much  better  kept ;  then  shall  the  generation  of  your 
people  be  encreased ;  then  shall  your  commons  encrease  in  riches ; 
then  shall  the  gospel  be  preached ;  then  shall  none  beg  our  alms  from 
us;  then  shall  we  have  enough,  and  more  than  shall  suffice  us,  which 
shall  be  the  best  hospital  that  ever  was  founded  for  us ;  then  shall  we 
daily  pray  to  God  for  your  most  noble  estate  long  to  endure. 

No.  XLL— (Referred  to  at  page  260.) 
Preamble  to  the  Act  of  Parliament  for  dissolving  the  lesser 

Monasteries. 

[Stat.  27  Hen.  VIII.  c.  28.] 

Forasmuch  as  manifest  sin,  vicious,  carnal,  and  abominable  living  is 
daily  used,  and  committed  commonly  in  such  little  and  small  abbeys, 
and  priories,  and  other  religious  houses,  of  monks,  canons,  and  nuns, 
where  the  congregation  of  such  religious  persons  is  under  the  number 
of  twelve  persons  ;  whereby  the  governors  of  such  religious  houses,  and 
their  convents,  spoil,  destroy,  consume,  and  utterly  waste,  as  well  these 
churches,  monasteries,  priories,  principal  houses,  farms,  granges,  lands, 
tenements,  and  hereditaments,  as  the  ornaments  of  their  churches,  and 
their  goods  and  chattels,  to  the  high  displeasure  of  Almighty  God,  slan 
der  of  good  religion,  and  to  the  great  infamy  of  the  king's  highness,  and 
the  realm,  if  redress  should  not  be  had  thereof:  and  albeit  that  many 
continual  visitations  have  been  heretofore  had,  by  the  space  of  two 
hundred  years,  and  more,  for  an  honest  and  charitable  reformation  of 
such  unthrifty,  carnal,  and  abominable  living ;  yet,  nevertheless,  little 


428  APPENDIX. 

or  none  amendment  is  hitherto  had :  but  their  vicious  livings  shame 
lessly  increaseth  and  augmenteth,  and,  by  a  cursed  custom,  so  grown 
and  infested,  that  a  great  multitude  of  the  religious  persons  in  such 
small  houses  do  rather  chuse  to  rove  abroad  in  apostacy,  than  to  con 
form  themselves  to  the  observation  of  good  religion  :  so  that,  without 
such  small  houses  be  utterly  suppressed,  and  the  religious  persons  therein 
committed  to  great  and  honourable  monasteries  of  religion  in  this  realm, 
where  they  may  be  compelled  to  live  religiously,  for  reformation  of  their 
lives ;  there  can  else  be  no  redress,  nor  reformation,  in  that  behalf.  In 
consideration  whereof,  the  king's  most  royal  majesty,  being  supreme 
head  in  earth,  under  God,  of  the  church  of  England,  daily  studying  and 
devising  the  increase,  advancement,  and  exaltation  of  true  doctrine  and 
virtue  in  the  said  church,  to  the  only  glory  and  honour  of  God,  arid  the 
total  extirping  and  destruction  of  vice  and  sin,  having  knowledge  that 
the  premises  be  true,  as  well  by  the  complaints  of  their  late  visitations, 
as  by  sundry  credible  informations;  considering  also,  that  divers  and 
great  solemn  monasteries  of  this  realm,  wherein,  thanks  be  to  God,  reli 
gion  is  well  kept  and  observed,  be  destitute  of  such  full  numbers  of 
religious  persons  as  they  might,  and  may  keep,  hath  thought  good,  that 
a  plain  declaration  should  be  made  of  the  premises,  as  well  to  the  lords 
spiritual  and  temporal,  as  to  others,  his  loving  subjects,  the  commons  in 
this  present  parliament  assembled.  Whereupon,  the  said  lords  and 
commons,  by  a  great  deliberation,  finally  be  resolved,  that  it  is,  and 
shall  be,  much  more  to  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  and  for  the 
honour  of  this  his  realm,  that  the  possessions  of  such  small  religious 
houses,  now  being  spent,  spoiled,  and  wasted  for  increase  and  main 
tenance  of  sin,  should  be  used,  and  converted  to  better  uses,  and  the 
unthrifty  religious  persons,  so  spending  the  same,  to  be  compelled  to 
reform  their  lives  :  and  thereupon  most  humbly  desire  the  king's  high 
ness,  that  it  may  be  enacted,  by  authority  of  this  present  parliament, 
that  his  majesty  shall  have  and  enjoy,  to  him,  and  to  his  heirs  for  ever, 
all  and  singular  such  monasteries. 

XLIL—  (Referred  to  at  page  264«.) 

Henry  VIII.  to  Gar diner ',  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Sir  John  Wallop, 
his  Ambassadors  at  the  Court  of  France.    Octob.  11,  1536. 

[Extract  from  the  Original,  in  my  possession.] 

Henry  R.  By  the  King. 

Right  reverende  father  in  God,  right  trusty,  and  right  welbi- 
loved,  &c.  *****  Youe  shal  understande,  that,  by  the  blowing 
abrode  of  certain  false  tales — that  is  to  saye,  that  we  shuld  entende  to 


APPENDIX. 

take  all  the  ornaments,  plate,  and  juells  of  all  the  parishe  churches 
within  our  realme  in  to  our  handes,  and  convert  the  same  totally  to  our 
owne  use ;  and  that  we  shuld  also  therwith  entende  to  take  suche  a 
taske  (tax)  of  all  our  commens,  as  the  like  therof  was  never  harde  of,  in 
any   christen  region,  whenne  we  assure  youe  there  was  never  worde 
spoken,  or  thing  thought,  by  us  or  any  of  our  counsail,  touching  any 
suche  matiers,  which  certain  traitors  (wherof  two  be  already  executed, 
and  we  have  moo  of  thauctors  ready  to  suffer  like  punyshment)  de 
vised  and  invented,  being  they  otherwise  in  the  daunger  of  our  lawes> 
and  thinking,  in  this  tombeling,  to  flye  and  escape — certain  of  our  sub- 
gietts,  with  a  nombre  of  boyes  and  beggers,  assembled  themselfs  togi- 
ther,  in  our  countie  of  Lincoln :  and,  forasmoche  as  the  matier  of  this 
insurrection  may  be  there  noted  a   greater  thing  thenne  it  is,  and  soo 
spoken  to  our  dishonour,  we  thought  mete  both  of  the  cause,  the  thing 
as  it  is,  and  of  our  order  taken  for  it,  tadvertise  youe, — as,  of  the 
cause  and  the  state  of  the   thing,  we  have   don  already.      And   for 
thorder,  youe  shall  knowe,  bicause  our  cousin  of  Suffolk  marled  the 
doughter  of  the  lorde  Willoughby,  and  is,  by  the  same,  a  greate  inhe 
ritor  in  those  parties,  we  have  sent  him  thither,  as  our  lieutenant,  and 
joyned  with  him  the  neighbors  of  the  cuntrey  theraboutes,  that  is  to 
saye,  therles  of  Shrewsbury,  Rutland,  and  Huntingdon,  the  lord  admy- 
ral,  the  lord  Talbot,  the  lord  Boroughe,  the  lord  Clynton,  Sir  John 
Russell,  Sir  Ffrauncis  Brian,  Richard  Crumwell,  and  all  others  having 
landes  or  rule  theraboutes ;  who  be  nowe  there,  with  a  greate  force, 
and  shall,  we  doubt  not,  give  the  traitors  the  rewarde  of  their  traitorous- 
attemptate,  very  shortly.     And  yet,  according  to  the  auncient  usage 
and  custume  of  this  realme,  we  have  assembled,  to  wayte  uppon  us,  to 
kepe  all  other  partes  in  quiet,  and  to  be  sent  against  them  (not  for  nede, 
but  for  thutter  destroyeng  of  them,  to  thexample  of  all  subgietts  her- 
after)  suche  a  puissant  and  mayne  armye,  of  pure  tried  men,1  as  we 
thinke  were  hable  to  give  the  greatest  prince  christened  thre  greate  and 
mayne  batells  ;  and  yet  the  greate  parte  of  cure  realme  is  not  touched ; 
ne  we  were  above  vi  dayes  in  the  levieng  and  conveyeng  of  all  these 
men  to  Ampthill,  where  we  made  the  place  of  assemblee.     We  be  sure 
the  nombre  wilbe  no  lesse  thenne  iiiixx.  M.  tried  men,  whenne,  they  be 


1  [No  such  army  had  yet  been  levied ;  and  when  levied,  it  was  because  it  was 
found  to  be  absolutely  necessary.  On  the  20th  of  October,  nine  days  after 
the  date  of  the  present  despatch,  the  privy  council,  writing  to  the  duke  of 
Norfolk,  says,  "  because  this  matter  seemeth  to  be  so  hot  and  dangerous,  his 
grace  desire th  you  to  advertize  him,  by  this  bearer,  whether  you  shall  think 
it  expedient,  that  his  grace  should  levy  an  army,  to  attend  upon  his  person, 
and  so  advance  towards  the  said  rebels." — Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  26. — TV] 


430  APPENDIX. 

togither;  and,  therfor,  hearing  this  matier  spoken  of,  you  maye  declare 
it  to  our  good  brother,  as  it  is,  and  to  all  others,  whatsoever  shalbe 
bruted  of  the  same  ;  and  thervvithal,  that  we  canne,  at  all  tyines,  returne 
every  man  home  again  to  his  house,  or  dwelling-place,  in  as  shorte 
space,  without  tumult,  or  any  maner  of  inconvenience.  Yeven  undre 
our  signet,  at  our  castell  of  Wyridesore,  the  xi  day  of  October. 

No.  XLIIL— (ReJ erred  to  at  page  264.) 
The  Oath  of  the  Northern  Insurgents.     Jlnno  1536. 

[Stowe,  573;  Speed,  1019.] 

Ye  shall  not  enter  into  this  our  Pilgrimage  of  Grace  for  the  com 
monwealth  only,  but  for  the  love  that  you  do  bear  to  God's  faith,  and 
the  church  militant,  and  the  maintenance  thereof,  and  the  preservation 
of  the  king's  person,  and  his  issue,  and  the  purifying  of  nobility,  and  to 
the  intent  to  express  all  villains'  blood,  and  evil  counsellors  against  the 
commonwealth,  from  his  grace,  and  the  privy  council  of  the  same. 
And  ye  shall  not  enter  into  our  said  pilgrimage  for  any  particular  profit 
to  yourselves,  nor  do  any  displeasure  to  any  private  person,  but  by  the 
counsel  of  the  commonwealth ;  ne  to  murder,  or  slay  for  any  envy  ; 
but,  in  your  heart,  to  put  away  all  fear  from  the  commonwealth,  and  to 
take  before  you  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  in  your  hearts  his  faith,  to  the 
restitution  of  God's  church,  and  to  the  suppression  of  erroneous  opi 
nions. 

No.  XLIV— (Referred  to  at  page  266.) 

Henry  VIII.  to  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Sir  John  Wallop, 
his  Ambassadors  at  the  Court  of  France.     Nov.  5,  1536. 

[Extract  from  the  original,  in  my  possession.] 
Henry  R.  By  the  king. 

Right  reverende  father  in  God,  right  trusty,  and  right  welbi- 
loved,  &c.,  we  grete  youe  wel :  and  have  recey ved  your  lettres  credencial, 
sent  unto  us  by  our  trusty  and  welbiloved  servant,  John  Hutton,  gover 
nor  of  our  merchants  adventurers  in  Fflaunders,  and  at  good  length 
harde  the  credence  commytted  to  the  same.  And  forasmoche  as,  by 
oon  parte  therof,  we  perceyve  that  the  matier  of  suche  insurrections,  as 
have  been  lately  attempted  here,  by  certain  most  traitorous,  false,  and 
detestable  personnes,  is  there  noysed,  bruted,  and  setfurth,  in  a  ferre 
other  sorte  thenne  is  true,  wherby  it  appereth  ho  we  that,  of  a  litle,  those 
men  canne  sumtyme  make  moche,  and  somoche  that  it  shall  have  no 
thing  lesse  in  the  same  thenne  truth,  we  have  thought  convenient, 
befor  we  shall  entreate  any  other  matier,  in  these  our  lettres,  to  declare 


APPENDIX.  431 

ranto  youe  tlie  state  of  all  thinges  here ;  to  thintent  youe  inaye  boldely 
affirme  the  same  to  be  true  to  all  men,  and  in  all  presences,  where  you 
shall  have  any  occasion,  cause,  or  opportunytie  to  speake  therof.  And 
first,  you  shall  understande  that  these  rebellions  have  been  attempted 
uppon  false,  fayned,  and  untrue  surmyses  and  reaportes,  setfurth  amongs 
our  people,  by  certain  moost  traitorous  and  sedicious  personnes  (being 
in  the  daunger  of  our  lawes,  and  thinking  not  only,  in  that  tumulte,  to 
have  gotten  somme  spoyle,  but  also  to  have  therwith  fledde,  after,  out 
of  this  our  realme,  in  to  other  parties),  wherof,  nevertheles,  a  good 
nombre  be  apprehended  and  taken ;  and  we  doubt  not  but  we  shal,  in 
brief  tyme,  also  apprehende  the  residue,  or  the  greate  parte  of  the  same, 
not  yet  taken.  Secondely,  whenne  our  people,  being  soo  uppe,  knewe, 
by  the  relacions  of  suche  men  as  were  sent  to  have  repressed  them  by 
violence,  if  irede  shuld  have  required,  that  they  had  been  abused  and 
deceyved,  moche  lamenting  their  offences,  therin  commytted  against  us 
by  the  lightnes  of  credite,  and  humbly  desiring  our  pardon  for  the  same, 
they  did,  in  bothe  shires  of  Lincoln  and  York,  immediatly  retyre  them- 
selfes  again,  every  man  to  his  house  and  dwelling-place ;  and,  for  a 
token  of  perfite  submission  and  repentance,  the  Lincolnshire  men  have 
not  only  taken  amongs  themselfes  a  greate  parte  of  the  said  principal 
traitors,  being  in  warde  for  this  rebellion,  but  have  also  delyvered,  wil 
lingly  and  without  any  constraincte,  in  to  the  handes  of  our  lieutenant 
that  was  sent  against  them,  all  the  harneys  and  weapons  within  the 
hole  shire :  soo  that,  by  this  declaracion,  youe  maye  percey ve  the  state 
of  that  countie.  And  as  concernyng  the  Yorkshire  men,  they  doo  al 
ready,  being  thus  retyred,  lamente  their  traitorous  attemptate,  and  make 
greate  sute  and  labour  for  their  pardon  ;  soo  that  we  have  no  doubt  but 
we  shall  in  tyme  dispose  of  them  what  we  woll,  and  bring  them  to  like 
submyssion,  as  is  alreadye  made  by  them  of  Lincolnshire.  And  yet, 
we  be  not  mynded  to  use  any  rigor,  but  to  enforce  them  to  folowe 
thexemple  of  the  Lincolnshire  men,  in  thapprehencion  of  their  oune 
capitaines  and  ringleders ;  and  soo  to  take  compassion  of  the  multitude, 
whiche  doth  appere  alreadye  most  sory  and  repentant  for  their  doings 
therin,  as  is  expressed :  and  yet  doo  both  shires  remayn  holly  at  our 
commaundement,  neither  having  our  pardon,  ne  any  certain  promyse 
of  the  same:  and  therfor  youe  maye  be  bold  not  only  to  declare  the 
premyses,  as  they  be  befor  specefied,  but  also  to  affirme  that,  against 
every  of  thinsurrections  of  those  shires  (being  oon  attempted  aftre  an 
other,  and  yet  chiefly  by  oon  principal  auctor)  we  had  in  a  redynes,  and 
that  within  vi  dayes  for  every  of  them,  suche  two  armyes,  as  we  thinke 
wold  first  have  devoured  the  said  rebelles,  and  yet  have  remayned  right 
hable,  every  of  them,  aftre  to  have  given  mayne  batel  to  the  greatest 


432  APPENDIX- 

prince  christened.  And  surely  we  be  asmoche  bounde  to  God,  as  ever 
was  prince,  both  for  that  we  founde  our  subgietts  soo  towarde,  soo  wil 
ling,  and  soo  readye  to  have  fought  against  the  rebelles,  that  we  were 
rather  enforced  to  kepe  them  back,  and  to  cause  greate  nombres  to 
retyre  home  to  their  cuntreys,  thenne,  by  any  maner  of  allurements,  to 
prycke  them  forwardes,  whenne  they  percey  ved  ones  that  we  mynded  to 
move  our  fote  against  them,  and  for  that,  that,  being  our  people  soo 
uppe  on  both  sides,  we  have  them  again  in  soo  good  quiet,  without  ef 
fusion  of  blodde,  or  the  striking  of  any  stroke,  by  either  partie  ;  whiche 
is  sumwhat  straunge,  and,  peradventure,  hath  not  been  often  seen, — they 
being,  as  is  said,  suche  a  multitude,  as,  doubt  youe  not,  had  been  hable, 
wel  furnished  with  artillery,  ordenaunce,  and  good  capitaines,  to  have 
overthrowen  the  better  of  either  themperor's,  or  Ffrenche  king's  armye. 
*  *  *  *  * 

Yeven  undre  our  signet,  at  our  castle  of  Wyndesor  the  vth  daye  of 
Novembre,  the  xxviiith  yere  of  our  reign. 

Cromwell  to  the  same. — Dec.  24th,  1536. 
[Extract  from  the  original  in  my  possession.] 

Aftre  my  right  harty  commendacions  to  your  lordshippe  and  sem- 
blably  to  youe,  maister  Walloppe :  Forasmoche  as  in  your  lettres  of  the 
xiiith  of  this  moneth,  lately  addressed  to  the  king's  highnes,  it  appereth 
to  his  grace  amongs  other  thinges,  that  there  be  diverse  rumors  spredde 
in  those  parties  of  the  late  rebellion  attempted  in  the  north  parties  of 
this  realme,  and  specially  oon,  that,  for  mystrust  whiche  the  nobles  and 
gentlemen  had  in  the  commens,  they  were  enforced  to  appease  the 
matierwith  certain  conditions  and  articles,  to  thintent  youemayeknowe 
the  certaintie  therof,  and  prepare  yourselfes  the  better  both  to  setfurth 
the  same,  and  to  answer  all  men  that  wold  saye  anything  to  the  con 
trary,  his  majestie's  pleasure  was  I  shuld  signifie  the  parfite  truth  of 
thappeasing  of  that  trouble  and  commotion  unto  youe  :  whiche  is,  that, 
first,  there  is  no  thing  more  false,  thenne  that  the  commens,  assembled 
for  the  king's  partie,  were  soo  faynt  and  unwilling,  that  they  wold  not 
have  doon  their  dieuties  if  it  had  comen  to  extremytie ;!  ffor  youe  shal 
understande,  the  very  same  brute  was  here  told  to  the  king's  majestic ; 

1  [From  the  earnestness  with  which  this  is  asserted,  coupled  with  the  manifest 
contradictions  and  untruths  contained  in  these  despatches,  there  is  good  reason 
to  conclude,  that  the  report  was  well-founded,  and  that  both  Norfolk  and  Henry 
were  unwilling  to  "  adventure  the  king's  honour  in  battle,"  solely  because  they 
were  unable  to  rely  on  the  fidelity  of  their  troops.  Hence,  no  doubt,  it  is  that 
the  council  tells  the  duke  of  Henry's  "  regret  to  receive  so  many  desperate  let 
ters,  and,  in  the  same,  to  hear  no  mention  of  the  remedies."  Hardw.  Papers, 
i.  28.— TV] 


APPENDIX.  433 

wherupon  his  grace  advertised  the  capitaines,  and  receyved  answer, 
that  they  had  perused  and  tryed  their  men,  and  founde  no  oon  but 
they  durst  affirme  wold  doo  his  dieuty,  whenne  the  case  shuld  re 
quire  :  and  I  am  assured,  both  by  advertisements  made  to  the  king  and 
otherwise,  that  the  most  parte  of  the  king's  retynue  in  maner  wept, 
whenne  they  were  commaunded  to  retyre,  considering  the  rebelles  were 
not  more  extremely  punished.  Soo  that  you  maye  affirme  it  for  certain 
trouth,  that,  onles  the  greate  wisedom  of  the  king's  highnes,  forseing 
that  the  stroke  of  batail  shuld  have  but  only  diminished  his  force  and 
strenght,  and  been  thoccasion  of  infinite  mischieves,  had  given  straicte 
commaundements  to  his  lieutenants,  as  in  dede  he  did,  that  they  shuld 
in  no  wise  adventure  his  honor  in  batail,  wherin  he  could  have  gotten 
nothing,  but  destroyed  his  oune  membres  that  be  ready  to  serve  him, 
there  had  been  suche  extremytie,  admin istred  by  the  partie  of  his 
grace  uppon  the  rebells,  as  it  was  to  be  feared  the  like  was  not  seen 
in  many  yeres.  And  nowe  those  that  be  indifferent  maye  see  both  the 
greate  wisedom  and  clemency  of  the  king's  majestie,  whiche  did  rather 
devise  to  preserve  his  oune,  with  his  honor,  thenne  jeoparde  the  losing 
of  his  oune ;  wherin,  thoughe  he  could  not  have  lost  honor,  in  the  cut 
ting  of  of  those  corrupt  membres,  yet  he  shuld  have  wanted  the  use  of 
them,  whiche,  being  heled  and  recoverid  as  they  be,  maye  and  wil  ever 
stande  him  in  good  stede. 

Seconde,  wheras  it  is  reaported,  that  the  matier  shuld  be  taken  uppe 
with  conditions  and  articles,  it  is  truth  that,  at  the  begyning,  the 
rebelles  made  peticion  to  have  obteyned  certain  articles ;  but,  in  thende, 
they  went  from  all,  and  remytted  all  to  the  king's  highnes  pleasure, 
only  in  most  humble  and  reverent  sorte,  desiring  their  pardon,  with  the 
greatest  repentance  that  could  be  devised :  insomoche  as  in  their  chief 
article,  whiche,  next  their  pardon,  was  for  a  parliament,  for  that  they 
might  have  their  pardon  therin  confirmed,  they  remytted  thappointe- 
ment  of  the  same  holly  to  the  king's  majestie,  without  the  namying  of 
tyme,  place,  or  any  other  thing  touching  that  matier :  and  this  discours 
may  you  declare  to  all  men  for  truth ;  for  no  man  with  truth  canne 
impugne  the  same.  And  nowe  my  lord  of  Norffolk  shall  goo  thither, 
to  lye  there,  as  the  king's  lieutenant,  for  the  administracion  of  justice, 
and  shall  have  a  counsail  joyned  with  him,  as  was  appointed  to  the 
duke  of  Richmonde,  at  his  lieing  in  those  parties. 

*  *  *  *  * 

And  thus  ff'are  you  hartely  well.  Ffrom  the  Roulls,  the  xxiiiith  of 
Decembre. 

Your  lordshippes  assuryd  ffreend, 

Thomas  Crumwell. 
VOL.  I.  F   F 


434 


APPENDIX. 


No.  XLV.— (Referred  to  at  page'3QQ.) 

Explanation  of  the  Signatures  of  the  Members  of  the  Convocation, 

ml  536. 


1.  Thomas  Crumwell,  the  king's  vice 

gerent. 

2.  Thomas  Cranmer,  archb.  of  Canter 

bury. 

3.  Edward  Lee,  archb.  of  York. 

4.  John  Stokesly,  bishop  of  London. 

5.  Cuthbert  Tunstal,  bish.  of  Durham. 

6.  John  Longland,  bish.  of  Lincoln. 

7.  The   same,  as  procurator  for  John 

Voysey,    alias   Harman,    bish.    of 
Exeter. 

8.  John  Clerk,  bish.  of  Bath. 

9.  Thomas  Goodrich,  bish.  of  Ely. 

10.  John  Longland,  bish.  of  Lincoln,  as 
procurator  for  Rowland  Lee,  bish. 
of  Coventry  and  Lichfield. 

11  John  Capon,  alias  Salcot,  bish.  of 
Bangor. 

12.  Nicholas  Shaxton,  bish.  of  Salisbury. 

13.  Edward  Fox,  bish.  ot  Hereford. 

14.  Hugh  Latimer,  bish.  of  Worcester. 

15.  John  Hilsley,  bish.  of  Rochester. 

16  Richard  Sampson,  bish.  of  Chicbes- 
ter. 

17.  William  Rugge,  al.  Repps,  bish.  of 

Norwich. 

18.  William  Barlowe,  bish.  of  St.  David's. 

19.  Robert  Parfew,  al.  Warbington,  or 

Warton,  bish.  of  St.  Asaph. 

20.  Robert  Catton,  abbot  of  St.  Alban's, 

ob.  1538. 

21.  William  Benson,  or  Boston,  abbot  of 

Westminster,  ob.  1549. 

22.  John  Melford,  al.  Reeve,last  abbot  of 

Bury  St.  Edmund's,  ob.  1540. 

23.  Richard  Whiting,  abbot  of  Glaston- 

bury.     Executed  in  1539. 

24.  Hugh    Cook,     al.    Farringdon,   last 

abbot  of  Reading. 

25.  Robert  Frampton,  last  abbot  of  Mal- 

mesbury. 

26.  Clement    Litchfield,    last    abbot  of 

Evesham. 

27.  John  Hammond,  last  abbot  of  Battle. 

28.  William  Malvern,  al.  Parker,  abbot 

of  St.  Peter's,  Gloucester. 

29.  Richard  Anselme,  al.  Mounslow,  last 

abbot  of  Winchcomb. 

30.  John  Welles,  al.  Bridges,  last  abbot 

of  Croyland. 

31.  Robert  Blythe,  last  abbot  of  Thorney. 

32.  Robert  Fuller,last  abbotof  Waltham. 

33.  John  Blake,  last  abbot  of  Cirencester. 

34.  John  Walker,  abbot  of  Tewkesbury. 

35.  Thomas  Campsele,    or  Kampswell, 

last  prior  of  Coventry. 

36.  John  Cook,  abbot  of  Oseney. 


37.  Henry ,  abbot  "  de  Gratiis  :"— 

Grace-Dieu,  in  Monmouthshire? 

38.  Anthony  Kitchen,  al.  Dunstan,  last 

abbot    of    Eyneshatn,     afterwards 
bishop  of  Landaff. 

39.  Robert  Wells,  al.  Stewarde,  last  prior 

of  Ely. 

40.  Robert  Holgate,  last  prior  of  Sem- 

pringham,     afterwards    bishop     of 
Landaff. 

41.  Richard  Ridge,  last  abbot  of  Notley. 

42.  Hugh  Olives,    al.    Whitewick,    last 

prior  of  Huntingdon. 

43.  William  Huddlestone,   last  abbot  of 

Stratford. 

44.  Gabriel  Donne,  last  abbot  of  Buck- 

fastre. 

45.  Henry  Emery,  last  abbot  of  War- 

denor. 

46.  John  Bowie,  last  prior  of  Merton. 

47.  Richard  Vowell,  last  prior  of  Wal- 

singham. 

48.  Thomas   Shepyshed,    last   abbot    of 

Gerondon. 

49.  Thomas,  abbot  of  Stanley. 

50.  Richard   Green,  last  abbot  of  By- 

telsden. 

51.  Richard    Hempsted,   or    Hart,    last 

prior  of  Llanthony. 

52.  Robert  King,  last  abbot  of  Thame. 

53.  John  Burne,  last  prior  of  Newenham. 

54.  Ralph  Fairfax,  last  prior  of  Keyme. 

55.  Richard  King,  last  abbot  of  Bruerne. 

56.  Robert  Whitgi ft,  last  abbot  of  Wei- 

low. 

57.  Bartholomew  Linsted,  al.  Fowle,  last 

prior  of  St.  Mary  Overy,    South- 
wark. 

58.  William  Marley,  last  prior  of  Aber- 

gavenny. 

59.  Thomas  Pentecost,  al.  Rowland,  last 

abbot  of  Abingdon. 

INFERIOR  DOMUS. 

60.  Richard  Gwent,  archd.  London  and 

Brecon. 

61.  Robert  Aldrydge,  archd.  Colchester. 

62.  Thomas  Beydell,  archd.  Cornwall. 

63.  Richard  Strete,    archd.  Derby,  and 

procurator    of   the   clergy  of   Co 
ventry  and  Lichfield. 

64.  David  Pole,  archd.  Salop,  and  pro 

curator  of  the  archd.  and  clergy  of 
Coventry. 

65.  Richard  Doke,  archd.  Sarum. 

66.  Edmund  Bonner,  archd.  Leicester. 

67.  Thomas  Baghe,  archd.  Surrey. 


APPENDIX. 


435 


68.  Richard  Rawson,  archd.  Essex. 

69.  Edmund   Cranmer,    archd.   Canter 

bury. 

70.  Polydore  Virgil,  archd.  Wells. 

71.  Richard  Coren,  archd.  Oxford. 

72.  Henry    Morgan,  procurator  of   the 

clergy  of  Lincoln. 

73.  Peter  Vannes,  archd.  Worcester. 

74.  George  Hennage,  dean  of  Lincoln. 

75.  Milo    Spencer,     procurator   of    th'e 

clergy  of  Norwich. 

76.  William  Knight,  archd.  Chester. 

77.  Gamaliel  Clyfton,  dean  of  Hereford, 

and  procurator  of  the  chapter. 

78.  John  London,  dean  of  Wallingford. 

79.  Nicholas  Metcalf,  archd.  Rochester. 

80.  William    Hedge,  procurator  of  the 

clergy  of  Norwich. 

81.  Adam  Traves,  archd.  of  Exeter. 

82.  Richard  Woleman,  dean  of  Wells. 

83.  Thomas  Brerewode,  archd.  Bath,  and 

procurator  of  the  chapter  andclergy 
of  Exeter. 

84.  George  Carew,  archd.  Totton,  pro 

curator  of  the  chapter  andclergy  of 
Exeter. 

85.  Thomas   Benet,   procurator  of   the 

clergy  and  chapter  of  Sarnm. 

86.  Richard    Arche,   procurator   of  the 

clergy  and  chapter  of  Sarum. 

87.  Peter    Ligham,    procurator    of    the 

clergy  of  Canterbury. 

88.  Edmund  Steward,  procurator  of  the 

clergy  of  Winchester. 


89.  John  Rayne,  procurator  of  the  clergy 

of  Lincoln. 

90.  Leonard  Saville,  procurator  of  the 

clergy  of  the  archdeaconry  of  Lewes: 

91.  Simon   Matthew,  procurator  of  the 

clergy  of  London. 

92.  Humphrey  Ogle,  archd.  Salop. 

93.  Richard  Layton,  archd.  Bucks. 

94.  Hugh    Coren,     procurator    of    the 

clergy  of  Hereford. 

95.  Richard  Sparcheford,  procurator  of 

the  clergy  of  Hereford. 

96.  Maurice  GrifFyth,  procurator  of  the 

clergy  of  Rochester. 

97.  William  Buckmaster,  procurator  of 

the  clergy  of  London. 

98.  Richard  Sheltan,  master  of  Meting- 

ham  College,  in  Suffolk, — by  me, 

99.  William  Glynn,  archd.  Anglesey. 

100.  Robert  Evans,  dean  of  Bangor. 

101.  Walter  Cretyug,  archd.  Bath. 

102.  Thomas  Bagard,  procurator  of  the 
clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Worcester. 

103.  John  Nase,  procurator  of  the  clergy 
of  Bath  and  Wells. 

104.  George  Wyndham,  archd.  Norwich. 

105.  William   \laye,    procurator  of  the 
clergy  of  Ely. 

106.  Rowland  Philyps,  procurator  of  the 
chapter  of  St.  Paul's,  London. 

107.  John  Bell,  archd.  Gloucester. 

108.  John    Chambre,    dean  of  St.   Ste 
phen's,  and  archd.  Bedford. 

109.  Nicholas  Wilson. 


No.  XL VI.— (Referred  to  at  page  303.) 

Henry  VIII.  to  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Sir  John  Wallop, 
his  Ambassadors  in  France.     Nov.  17,  1535. 

[Extract  from  the  original,  in  my  possession.] 
Henry  R. —  By  the  King. 

Right  reverende  father  in  God,  right  trusty  and  right  welbiloved,  we 
grete  youe  well,  lating  youe  wit,  that  *  *  *  *  being  advertised  out  of 
Fraunce,  that  this  our  good  brother's  disease  grewe  partely,  at  this  tyme, 
unto  him,  of  malencoly  and  displeasure,  for  that  he  could  not  yet  mete 
with  themperor,  whiche  injustely  deteyneth  from  him  and  his  children 
their  right  and  enheritance  of  Millayn,  with  diverse  other  notable 
seigneories  and  dominions,  ************* 
ye  shall  saye  unto  him,  that,  in  case  he  wold  nowe  waye  and  consider 
his  oune  matiers  himself,  and  note  howe  princes  have  been,  he  wold  not 
slepe  these  thinges  any  lengre,  that  soo  nerely  touche  [him],  ne  suffer 
a  forayn  usurper  to  spoyle  and  robbe  yerly  his  kingdom  of  that  whiche 
is  due  to  himself,  who  is,  by  Goddis  lawe,  intiteled  to  the  gifte  of  all  the 

F  F  2 


436  APPENDIX. 

benefices  within  the  same,  and  ought  to  reduce,  without  consultacion  of 
any  man  out  of  his  realme,  his  clergie  to  an  ordre  and  conformytie : 
wherin,  if  he  shall  thoroughly  marke  our  procedinges,  and  folowe  the 
same,  he  shall  well  perceyve  both  howe  kingis  have  been  deluded,  and 
howe  easie  it  shuld  be  for  him,  with  the  inestimable  treasure  he  shuld 
receyve  yerly,  whiche  he  nowe  suffereth  the  said  usurper  to  take  from 
him,  without  color  of  right  for  the  same,  to  recover  his  oune,  maulgre 
the  hedds  of  all  his  enemyes,  and  therwithall  to  doo  greater  thinges, 
both  towardes  himself  and  his  frendes,  thenne,  befor  thexperience  of 
them,  men  canne  think  or  conjecture.  But  ye  may  saye  unto  him,  that 
this  matier  will  not  be  consented  to,  moch  lesse  compassed  willingly,  by 
suche  as  be  eyther  given  to  their  oune  affections  and  pleasures,  or  be 
elles  membres  of  the  papistical  kingdom :  In  whiche  matier  our  plea 
sure  is,  ye  shall  noon  otherwise  precede,  but  as  ye  shall  see  him  incly- 
nable ;  *  *  *  tempering  your  communication  in  suche  wise,  as  ye 
maye,  with  your  wisedom  and  dexteritie,  persuade  him  indifferently  to 
waye  our  procedinges  towardes  the  bishop  of  Rome  and  our  clergie,  and 
to  immytate  and  folowe  the  same,  the  benefite  wherof  shall  chiefly 
redounde  to  himself,  with  the  greate  rejoyse  and  comforte  of  all  those 
that  wold  him  good  or  honor. 


Ye  shall  also  understande,  that  we  have  well  noted  and  considered 
tharticles  of  the  newes  of  Almayn,  writen  to  Monsr.  de  Langeyr,  and 
sent  unto  us  by  youe,  Sir  John  Wallop,  thefFecte  wherof  evidently  de- 
clareth  howe  themperor,  with  his  consultacion  in  the  counsail  at  Spire, 
touching  the  validitie  or  invaliditie  of  the  gifte  pretended  by  Con- 
stantyne  to  Sylvestre,  wherin  the  negatyve  parte  prevayled,  hath  soo 
perplexed  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and,  not  without  cause,  put  him  in  suche 
feare,  as  it  is  thought  and  writen  by  the  cardinall  of  Bellaye,  that  he 
wold  be  gladde,  to  reconcile  us,  to  redubbe  all  that  he  hath  attempted 
against  us.  soo  as  we  might  joyne  with  our  good  brother  in  his  defence, 
against  themperor ;  by  whiche  tumult,  and  lightly  wood  of  further  sequel, 
to  thacomplishment  of  that,  whiche  is  herin  concey  ved  by  themperor, 
fforasmoche  as  we  see  and  certainly  perceyve  that  there  must  herby  ensue 
to  the  world,  whiche  waye  soever  the  ende  fall,  an  approbacion  of  our 
procedinges  (as,  first,  if  themperor  folowe  his  purpose,  and  acchieve  it, 
wherby   it    shalbe  resolved   that   the  bishop   of  Rome  is   but  vassall 
to  themperor,    thenne    must   even   themperor   himself   confesse    the 
said  bisshoppe's  processes  against  us  to  be  of  no  force  or  effecte,  and> 
reconsiling  himself,  put  out  of  his  brest  suche  grives  and  displeasures, 
as  he  hath,  percace,  by  the  meane  therof,  engendred  and  conceyved 


APPENDIX.  437 

against  us :  on  thother  parte,  if  the  bisshop  of  Rome,  who  wil  not  faile 
to  practise  all  he  canne  devise  for  his  defence,  shall,  for  our  reconcilia 
tion,  revoke  suche  censures  and  sentences,  as  his  predecessor  and  he 
have  maliciously  spitt  out  against  us,  and  shal  give  a  sentence  diffinityve 
for  us,  according  to  the  justice  of  our  procedinges,  it  shall  not  only  ap- 
pere  howe  injuriously  and  naughtely  we  have  been  therin  handeled,  or 
rather  slaundred  by  him,  his  predecessor,  and  other  pretending  to  have 
an  interest  of  medling  in  the  same,  but  also  wipe  awaye,  in  like  inaner, 
all  grudges  depending  betwene  us  and  the  said  emperor),  our  pleasur 
therefor  is,  that  ye  shal  tak  occasion,  of  yourself,  to  fall  in  communica 
tion  with  our  good  brother,  touching  these  newes,  alleaging  the  same 
to  be  sent  us  for  certain  and  true,  from  our  frendes  in  Almayn  :  wherin 
ye  shal  as  well  engreve  the  daunger  immynent  unto  him,  if  themperor 
may  establishe  his  monarchie  in  Rome,  and  soo  therby  obteyne  and  en- 
joye  Italy  in  quiet  (who,  in  that  case,  shal  of  lightlywood,  mak  his  next 
enterprise  uppon  him,  with  whom  only  he  shal  thenne  have  best  color  of 
querel),  as  declare  therwith  what  stede  we  may,  in  that  case,  stande 
him  in,  whome  ye  knowe  to  be  so  firmely  knytt  unto  him  in  love  and 
parfite  frendeship,  as  there  canne  be  no  injurie  or  displeasure  inferred 
to  him,  but  we  must  and  woll  accompt  it  doon  to  ourself,  and  think  our 
parte  therin :  Wherby  ye  shal  enter  in  to  his  brest,  and  both  percey ve 
howe  he  taketh  and  estemeth  those  newes,  and  also  what  he  woll  cer 
tainly  doo  for  thempechement  of  the  said  emperor's  enterprises.  Soo 
he  shal  nevertheles  styck  and  abide  soo  firmely,  and  hast  so  slowly  in 
the  conclusion  by  degres  of  your  articles  to  be  concluded  in  this  treatie, 
without  over  sone  relenting  in  any  pointe  of  the  same,  as  they  may 
think  that  we  esteme  this  matier  doon  altogither  for  their  benefite,  and 
no  whit  for  ours,  who,  by  all  lightlywood,  shall  not,  in  dede,  have  soo 
grete  nede  of  them,  as  they  shal  have  of  us.  *  *  *  *  Yeven  undre 
our  signet,  at  our  castle  of  Wyndesor,  the  xvijth  daye  of  Novembre. 

Cromwell  to  Gardiner.     Nov.  19,  1535. 
[Extract  from  the  Original,  in  ray  possession.] 

My  veray  good  lorde,  aftre  my  moost  harty  commendacions,  &c.  *  *  * 
The  kingis  highnes  desireth  youe  to  remembre  the  declaracion  to  the 
French  king  of  tharticles  sent  by  Melancton,  Luther's  epistle  in  the 
same,  with  thother  circumstances  conteyned  in  the  copies  lately  sent 
unto  you.  Ye  shall  also  receyve  herwith  a  dosen  of  your  orations, 
and  an  other  dosen  of  the  deane's,  whiche  the  kinge's  pleasure  is,  ye 
shall,  by  thadvise  of  Mr.  Brian  and  maister  Wallop,  destribute  to  suche 


438  APPENDIX. 

personnes  there,  as  amonges  youe  ye  shall  think  convenient.1    *  *  .  *  * 
From  the  Roulles,  the  xixth  daye  of  Novembre. 

Your  lordshippes  assuryd 

THOMAS  CRUMWELL. 

Henry  VIII.  to  Gardiner  and  Wallop,  in  France.     Feb.  3,  1536. 
[Extract  from  the  Original,  in  my  possession.] 

Henry  R.  By  the  King. 

Right  reverende  ffather  in  God,  right  trusty  and  right  welbi- 
loved,   and    trusty  and  right  welbiloved,  we  grete  you  wel.     Lating 

youe  wit,  that  *  *  *  *  * 

*  *  *  * 

we  have  thought  good  to  signifie  unto  youe,  that,  noting  their  progresse 
(the  progress  of  some  late  conferences  between  Gardiner  and  the 
French  king)  we  perceyve  the  same,  at  the  last,  to  tende  to  a  contribu- 
cion,  for  the  advauncement  wherof  the  greate  master  alleged  the  pre 
tended  sentence,  and  affirmed  that  the  realme  of  Ffraunce  could  not  be 
interdicted.  *  *  *  Wherfor,  uppon  the  receipt  herof,  ye  shal 
again  repair  to  the  courte,  and  enter  treatie  and  communicacion  with 
our  good  brother's  counsail  uppon  this  our  answer  to  the  material 
poyntes  of  your  late  conferences  had  with  the  same ;  declaring  spe 
cially  unto  them,  that  *  *  *  * 
we  mervayl  moche  that  our  good  brother  and  his  counsail  do  not  com 
pare  the  stede,  which  the  hole  realme  of  Ffraunce  may  have,  and  hath, 
by  us  and  our  realme,  with  the  benefite  they  may  take  by  the  bishop  of 
Rome.  If  they  have  grounded  their  love  towardes  him  uppon  thaffec- 
tion  they  bere  to  his  personne,  they  must  thenne  consider  he  is  but  a 
mortal  man,  as  other  be,  and,  by  all  lightlywood,  more  nere  his  ende 

1  [By  Melancthon's  "  articles,"  is  probably  meant  his  commentaries  on  the 
Epistles,  which  were  dedicated  and  transmitted  to  Hemy,  and  in  return  for 
which  the  latter  sent  him,  in  October,  1535,  a  present  of  200  crowns,  with  a 
letter  of  thanks  and  encouragement  (Strype  i.  232).  "  Luther's  epistle  "  was, 
unquestionably,  the  letter  written  by  that  reformer,  at  the  instance  of  the  divines 
of  Wittemberg,  wherein  he  made  his  submission,  and  apologized  to  Henry  for 
the  intemperance  of  his  former  writings  (Burnet,  iii.  Ill,  112.).  Gardiner's 
own  '  oration'  was  his  latin  treatise  '  De  verd  obedientia';  that  of  the  '  dean' 
was  the  work,  published  in  defence  of  the  king's  supremacy,  by  Dr.  Richard 
Sampson,  dean  of  Windsor  (Strype,  Mem.  i.  192,  225.).  Burnet  has  published 
a  paper  of  "  instructions,"  in  which  Cromwell  is  ordered  to  supply  Barnes, 
Haynes,  and  Mount,  when  about  to  proceed  to  France  and  Germany,  and  Wal 
lop,  already  with  Gardiner  in  Paris,  with  copies  of  the  "  book  made  by  the  dean 
of  the  chaple,  and  of  the  bishop's  sermons  ":  but  he  has  erroneously  assigned  it 
to  the  year  1536  (Hist.  Reform,  iii.  110,  and,  Rec.  97.).  Gardiner's  treatise  is 
printed  in  Brown's  Fasciculus  rerum  expetend.  (ii.  800.):  Sampson's,  in  Strype's 
Memorials,  i.  append.  109. — 7".] 


APPENDIX.  439 

thenne  the  most  parte  of  other  be  ;  and  that,  whenne  he  shalbe  goon, 
leaving  non  inheritance  behinde  him,  thatpercace  be  of  his  inclynacion, 
our  realme  shal  still  contynue  the  same  it  was  and  is,  and  be  hable,  in  al 
fortunes,  to  concurre  with  them,  and  to  doo  them  ever  more  pleasure 
thenne  the  bishop  of  Rome  could  have  doon,  whenne  he  was  proudest. 
Again,  if  they  adhere  and  cleave  fast  unto  him,  for  the  devocion  they 
have  to  his  see,  let  them  considre  what  mischief  and  abhomynacion 
hathe  growen  in  to  the  world  by  the  mayntenaunce  therof,  and  the 
wynking  at  thabusions  of  the  same :  in  somoche,  that  the  bishoppes 
therof  have  soo  encroched  uppon  prynces,  as  they  woold  hold  them  in 
the  lieu  of  subgietts,  with  suche  a  yoke  of  servilitie  and  bondage,  as 
they  shuld  doo  nothing  within  their  territories  and  dominions,  where, 
by  Godde's  worde,  they  be  heddes  and  supreme  ministres  of  justice,  but 
at  their  arbitre  and  pleasure  ;  specially  if  it  touche  oon  of  their  king 
dom,  thoughe  their  offence  extended  to  heresie,  treason,  and  suche 
other  detestable  crymes  as  wold  infest  a  hole  commune  wealthe,  if  they 
were  not  quyklye  extinguished,  cut  uppe  by  the  rotes  and  removed; 
like  as  for  an  exemple,  the  bishop,  that  nowe  is,  wold  lately  have  made 
a  querel  to  us  for  thexecution  of  the  late  bishop  of  Rochestre,  and 
certain  his  confederates  in  conspiracy  and  conjuration,  whiche  wold  both 
have  destroyed  our  personne  and  subverted  the  hole  state  and  quiet  of 
our  realme  ;  the  matier  wherof  may  be  a  spectacle  for  all  princes,  and 
a  meane  to  cause  them  to  remembre  their  estates,  and  to  joyne  with  us 
in  the  repression  of  his  pride,  whiche  wold  pull  their  crownes  from  their 
heddes,  and  set  them  uppon  his  oune ;  with  a  nombre  wherof  he  hath 
been  a  greate  while  disgised.  And  to  thintent  our  state  may  be  playne 
and  apparant,  let  them  again  considre  that,  if  the  bishoppe  of  Rome, 
having  nowe  left,  of  the  matiers  befor  specified,  non  ancre  to  hold  by, 
wold  yet  pretende  a  quarel  for  the  withdrawing  of  suche  exactions  as 
he  hath  had  yerly,  but  injustly,  out  of  this  our  realme,  albeit  we  might 
playe  the  lawyer  with  him,  and  saye  that  the  tyme  of  prescription,  with 
out  a  just  title  at  the  begynning,  maketh  no  proprietie,  ne  canne  with 
contynuance  make  good  that  was  first  nought,  yet  we  may  leave  al  that 
disputacion,  and  aske  indifferent  men  whither  the  vicar  of  Christ,  as  he 
wold  be  called  and  taken,  may,  with  the  preservacion  and  contynuance 
of  his  office,  uppon  his  displeasure  for  a  money  matier,  wrongfully  also 
exacted,  labor  to  slaunder  princes,  and,  with  lyes  and  falshoddes, 
travayl  to  bring  them  togither  by  the  eares,  with  the  miserable  effusion 
of  christen  bloode,  only  for  revenging  of  the  forsaid  querel.  Christ  was 
thautor  and  thauctor  of  peax,  and  soo  appered  al  those  that  were  his 
folowers,  even  whenne  they  lost,  not  their  treasures  (wherof  twayne  or 
thre  of  the  best  of  them  had  scant  somoche  as  the  bishop  of  Rome  nowe 


440  APPENDIX. 

hath  himselfe  alone),  but  their  lyves,  for  conservation  and  confirmation 
of  this  peax :  Whiche  thinges  if  the  greate  maister  had  considered,  he 
shuld  have  seen  and  perceyved  what  foly  it  had  been  for  him,  to  use  the 
bragge  of  suche  a  sentence  for  a  meane  to  work  their  purpose,  where 
freendship  only  ought  to  have  place  and  be  regarded.  *  *  * 
*  *  *  *  And,  as  touching  their  goodly  golden  privileage, 
ye  may  saye,  we  thought  it  necessary  that  ye  shuld  signifie  unto  them, 
that,  if  they  be  soo  privileaged  in  deade,  as  they  affirme,  or,  at  the  least, 
canne  be  soo  privileaged,  we  have  litle  cause  to  ayde  them,  and  soo 
firmely  to  cleave  unto  them  as  we  doo,  and  wil  doo,  onles  they  abuse  us 
tomoche,  and  with  contynuel  ingratitude  shall  abandon  us,  whiche,  by 
their  oune  confession,  having  the  shelde  therof  to  defende  them  from  all 
daungers,  inconveniences,  and  annoyances,  doo  refuse,  nevertheles,  in 
playne  termes,  to  capitulate  with  us  against  the  bishop  of  Rome,  whiche 
have  as  litle  nede  to  require  them  to  doo  it  (saving  only  we  love  and 
desire  in  all  thinges  to  precede  directly),  as  they  have,  by  their  oune  affir 
mations,  cause  to  doubt  it.  If  they  wil  joyne  syncerely  with  us,  that  is 
to  saye,  expresse  in  writing  that  they  saye  they  will,  if  nede  shuld 
require,  doo,  in  deades,  against  all  men  generally,  thenne  shal  they  fynde 
us  an  assured  freende  :  *  *  *  *  and  therfor  ye  shal 

saye,  that,  albeit,  notwithstanding  these  former  abuse  and  folyes,  we 
canne  be  content  to  ayde  and  assist  them  in  their  enterprises,  yet  we 
be  certainly  determyned,  both,  in  that  case,  to  have  them  enter  with  us 
in  playne  termes,  touching  the  bishop  of  Rome  (specially  seing  we  be 
like  to  have  non  other  reciproque),  and  to  have  their  devise  befor, 
howe  we  may  contribute  with  them,  and  preserve  our  amytie  with 

themperor,  &c.,  &c. 

****** 

Yeven  under  our  signet,  at  our  manor  of  Grenwich  the  iiid  daye  of 
Ffebruary. 

The  same  to  the  same.— April  30th,  1538. 
[From  the  original  in  my  possession.] 

Hereafter  ensue  the  articles,  which,  uppon  the  vieu  and  sight  of  the 
demaundes  of  the  French  men,  ye  shall  exhibite  for  our  parte,  joyning 
to  the  same  suche  other  their  reciproques  as  be  not  conteyned  in  this 
boke. 

Henry  R.— 

Ffirst,  that  the  Frenche  king  shall  defende  the  kingis  highnes, 
his  realme,  subjects,  vassalles,  domynyons,  possessions,  contries  and 
terrytories,  wheresoever  they  be  or  lye,  ayenst  themperour,  and  all  other 
supreme  potentates,  prynces,  states,  or  seigneouries,  of  what  estate, 
dignite,  degree,  or  condycyon  soever  they,  or  any  of  them,  be ;  and  by 


APPENDIX.  44 1 

what  name  or  names  soever  they,  or  any  of  them,  be  named  or  called ; 
and  of  what  power  or  auctoryte  soever  they,  or  any  of  them,  be  reputed, 
for  all  manner  of  causes,  querelles,  or  matiers,  that  be,  or  may  be,  pre 
tended  executed  or  doon  agaynst  his  highnes,  hisrealme,  subjectes,  vas- 
salles,  domynyons,  possessions,  countreys,  and  terrytories,  or  any  of  them, 
in  any  manner  of  wise,  or  by  any  manner  of  meane. 

Item,  that  the  saide  Frenche  king  shall  declare  himself,  according  to 
his  amyties  alredy  made,  to  not  stande  content  with  the  injuries  alredy 
don,  by  the  bishop  and  his  cardynalls  of  Rome,  to  his  dere  brother  and 
confederat,  the  king  of  Englonde,  and  that,  in  case  he  doth  not  abrogate, 
adnichilate,  and  make  voyde  and  frustrate  all  arid  all  manner  of  pro 
cesses,  censures,  excommunications,  interdictions,  sentences,  decrees, 
and  all  other  kyndes  of  judgements  and  execucions  of  the  same,  what 
soever  they  be,  or  by  what  soever  name  or  names  they  be,  or  may  be, 
called,  or  of  what  soever  nature,  qualyte,  or  condycyon  they,  or  any  of 
them,  be  of,  which  now  depende,  or,  at  any  tyme  heretofore,  hath  de 
pended,  in  any  of  the  saide  bishop  of  Rome's  courtes,  or  such  others  as, 
at  any  tyme  heretofore,  hathe  ben  had,  don,  moved,  attempted,  or  dy- 
vulged  by  the  saide  bishop,  or  any  his  predecessours,  [or]  by  any  of 
their  auctorytees,  against  the  kingis  highnes,  his  realme,  subjectes,  vas- 
salles,  domynyons,  possessions,  countreys,  and  territories,  or  any  of  them, 
that  then,  and  in  that  case,  any  amyties  made,  or  hereafter  to  be  made, 
between  them,  to  stande  in  no  force  or  strength,  but  to  be  reputed  as- 
none,  and  so  to  lose  their  force. 

Item,  the  saide  Frensh  king  shall  not,  at  any  tyme,  take  any  manner 
of  peax  with  themperor,  but  suche  as  he  shall  first  signefie  to  the  kingis 
highnes,  and  have  his  consent  and  expresse  agrement  in  wryting  to  the 
same. 

Item,  that,  in  case  the  kingis  highnes  shall  chaunce  hereafter  to  make 
any  warre  in  Fflaundres,  or  any  of  themperour's  domynyons,  or  elles 
where,  that,  in  such  case,  the  said  Frensh  king  shall  contribute  like 
somes  of  money  with  his  highnes,  as  his  grace  shall  now  contribute  with 
him. 

Item,  that  there  shalbe  one  speciall  article  inserte  in  the  treatie,  that 
aswell  the  kingis  highnes,  as  the  Frensh  king,  within  three  monethes 
after  the  date  thereof,  before  notaries  and  witnesses,  specially  called  and 
requyred  for  that  purpose,  in  the  presence  also  of  the  orator  or  thoratours 
of  eyther  prynce,  to  be  appoynted  by  them,  and  eyther  of  them,  to  see 
and  requyre  the  same,  shall  openly,  publiquely,  expressly,  and  in  wryt 
ing,  of  their  certeyn  science,  and  in  the  strength  and  force  of  a  pacte, 
utterly  renounce  and  forsake  all  and  singuler  pryvyleges,  dispensacions, 
causes,  reasons,  pretences,  and  occasions,  and  also  almanner  of  remedies, 


442  APPENDIX. 

what  soever  they  or  any  of  them  be,  of  the  lawe  or  of  the  facte,  in  ge- 
neralite  or  in  specyalite,  to  the  saide  prynces,  or  eyther  of  them,  their 
realmes  or  domynyons,  by  the  law  or  by  any  man,  under  what  soever 
force  of  wordes,  teanor,  or  forme,  graunted  or  to  be  graunted,  in  as 
effectuel  sorte  manner  and  facion,  as  if  they  had  ben  here  specyally 
by  name  and  expressely  inserted,  remembred,  and  repeted,  by  the  which 
the  effecte  of  this  treatie,  or  of  any  parte  or  parcell  thereof,  may,  by 
any  manner  of  meane,  be  letted,  defrauded,  or  impeched,  the  lawe  or 
canon,  by  the  which  it  is  ordeyned  that  a  generall  renunciacyon  of  any 
pryvylege,  exception,  or  any  other  benefite  to  come,  shall  not  be  good 
and  effectuel,  or  any  other  thing,  cause,  or  matier  whatsoever  to  the 
contrary  hereof  in  any  wise  notwithstanding. 

Item,  that  the  oratours  and  commissioners  may  likewise,  in  the  names 
of  both  prynces,  by  vertue  of  their  commissions,  make,  in  the  saide 
treatie,  openly  and  in  the  strength  and  force  of  a  pacte,  like  renuncya- 
cion  of  all  pryvileges,  &c.,  according  to  the  teanor  of  the  article  before 
wrytten. 

Item,  that  the  saide  Frenche  king  shall  in  no  wise  consent  to  the  in- 
diction  of  any  generall  counsail,  without  the  expresse  consent  of  the 
kinge's  highnes  before  had  and  obteyned  in  wryting  to  the  same. 

Item,  that  the  saide  French  king  shall,  at  no  tyme  hereafter,  take  any 
peax  with  themperour,  but  he  shall  covenante  and  agree  with  him,  in  the 
treatie  to  be  made  of  the  same,  that  the  saide  emperour  shall  not  only 
take  and  repute  all  the  bishop  of  Rome's  procedinges  ayenst  us  as  inane, 
frustrate,  and  of  no  force  or  effecte,  but  further  bynde  him,  in  the 
strength  of  a  covenaunte,  that  he  shall  do  as  moche  as  in  him  shall  lye, 
to  cause  the  saide  bishop  himself  to  adnychilate  and  declare  voyde  all 
his  saide  procedinges  ayenst  us,  to  all  intentes,  effectes,  and  purposes. 

No.  XLV1L— (Referred  to  at  page  308J 

An  Act  for  Abolishing  of  Diversity  of  Opinions  in  certain  Articles 
concerning  Christian  Religion,  commonly  called  the  Statute  of  the 
Six  Articles. 

[Stat.  31,  Hen.  VIII.  Cap.  14.] 

I.  Where  the  king's  most  excellent  majestic  is  by  God's  law  supreara 
head,  immediately  under  him,  of  this  whole  church  and  congregation  of 
England,  intending  the  conservation  of  the  same  church  and  congrega 
tion  in  a  true  and  sincere  and  uniform  doctrin  of  Christ's  religion, 
calling  also  to  his  blessed  and  most  gracious  remembrance,  as  well 
the  great  and  quiet  assurance,  prosperous  increase,  and  other  innu 
merable  commodities,  which  have  ever  issued,  come,  and  followed,  of 


APPENDIX.  443 

concord,  agreement,  and  unity  in  opinions,  as  also  the  manifold  perils, 
dangers,  and  inconveniences,  which  have  heretofore,  in  many  places  and 
regions,  grown,  sprung,  and  arisen,  of  the  diversities  of  minds  and 
opinions,  especially  of  matters  of  Christian  religion ;  and  therefore 
desiring,  that  such  an  unity  might  and  should  be  charitably  established 
in  all  things  touching  and  concerning  the  same,  as  the  same,  so  being 
established,  might  chiefly  be  to  the  honour  of  Almighty  God,  the  very 
author  and  fountain  of  all  true  unity  and  sincere  concord,  and  conse 
quently  redound  to  the  common  wealth  of  this  his  highness'  most  noble 
realm,  and  of  all  his  loving  subjects,  and  other  resiants  and  inhabitants 
of  or  in  the  same,  hath  therefore  caused  and  commanded  this  his  most 
high  court  of  parliament,  for  sundry  and  many  urgent  causes  and  con 
siderations,  to  be  at  this  time  summoned,  and  also  a  synod  and  convocation 
of  all  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  learned  men  of  the  clergy  of 
this  his  realm,  to  be  in  like  manner  assembled. 

II.  And  forasmuch  as,  in  the  said  parliament,  synod  and  convocation, 
there  were  certain  articles,  matters,  and  questions,  proponed  and  set 
forth  touching  Christian  religion,  that  is  to  say, 

First,  Whether,  in  the  most  blessed  sacrament  of  the  altar,  remaineth, 
after  the  consecration,  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine,  or  no  ? 

Secondly,  Whether  it  be  necessary,  by  God's  law,  that  all  men  should 
communicate  with  both  kinds,  or  no  ? 

Thirdly,  Whether  priests,  that  is  to  say,  men  dedicate  to  God  by 
priesthood,  may,  by  the  law  of  God,  marry  after,  or  no  ? 

Fourthly,  Whether  vows  of  chastity  or  widowhead,  made  to  God 
advisedly  by  man  or  woman,  be,  by  the  law  of  God,  to  be  observed,  or 
no  ? 

Fifthly,  Whether  private  masses  stand  with  the  law  of  God,  and  be 
to  be  used  and  continued  in  the  church  and  congregation  of  England, 
as  things  whereby  good  Christians  may  do  and  receive  both  godly  con 
solation,  and  wholesome  benefits,  or  no  ? 

Sixthly,  whether  auricular  confession  is  necessary  to  be  retained, 
continued,  used,  and  frequented,  in  the  church,  or  no  ? 

III.  The  king's  most  royal  majesty,  most  prudently  pondering  and 
considering,  that,  by  occasion  of   variable    and    sundry   opinions  and 
judgments  of  the  said  articles,  great  discord  and  variance  hath  arisen,  as 
well  amongst  the  clergy  of  this  his  realm,  as  amongst  a  great  number 
of  the  vulgar  people,  his  loving  subjects  of  the  same  ;  and  being  in  a  full 
hope  and  trust,  that  a  full  and  perfect  resolution  of  the  said  articles  should 
make  a  perfect  concord  and   unity  generally  among  all  his  loving  and 
obedient  subjects,  of  his  most  excellent  goodness  nor  only  commanded 
that  the  said  articles  should  deliberately  and  advisedly,  by  his  said  arch- 


444  APPENDIX. 

bishops,  bishops,  and  other  learned  men  of  his  clergy,  be  debated, 
argued,  and  reasoned,  and  their  opinions  therein  to  be  understood, 
declared,  and  known,  but  also  most  graciously  vouchsafed,  in  his  own 
princely  person,  to  descend  and  come  unto  his  said  high  court  of 
parliament  and  council,  and  there,  like  a  prince  of  most  high  prudence, 
and  no  less  learning,  opened  and  declared  many  things  of  high  learning 
and  great  knowledge,  touching  the  said  articles,  matters,  and  questions, 
for  an  unity  to  be  had  in  the  same  :  Whereupon,  after  a  great  and  long, 
deliberate,  and  advised  disputation  and  consultation,  had  and  made 
concerning  the  said  articles,  as  well  by  the  consent  of  the  king's  high 
ness,  as  by  the  assent  of  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  other 
learned  men  of  his  clergy  in  their  convocations,  and  by  the  consent  of 
the  commons,  in  this  present  parliament  assembled,  it  was  and  is  finally 
resolved,  accorded,  and  agreed,  in  manner  arid  form  following,  that  is  to 
say, 

IV.  First,  That,  in  the  most  blessed  sacrament  of  the  altar,  by  the 
strength  and  efficacie  of  Christ's  mighty  word  (it  being  spoken  by  the 
priest),  is  present,  really,  under  the  form  of  bread  and  wine,  the  natural 
body  and  blood  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  conceived  of  the  Virgin 
Mary ;  and  that,  after  the  consecration,  there  remaineth  no  substance 
of  bread  or  wine,  nor  any  other  substance,  but  the  substance  of  Christ, 
God  and  Man. 

Secondly,  That  the  communion  in  both  kinds  is  not  necessary  ad 
salutem,  by  the  law  of  God,  to  all  persons ;  and  that  it  is  to  be  believed, 
and  not  doubted  of,  but  that  in  the  flesh,  under  the  form  of  bread,  is  the 
very  blood,  and  with  the  blood,  under  the  form  of  wine,  is  the  very  flesh, 
as  well  apart,  as  though  they  were  both  together. 

Thirdly,  That  priests,  after  the  order  of  priesthood  received,  as  afore, 
may  not  marry,  by  the  law  of  God. 

Fourthly,  That  vows  of  chastity,  [and]  widowhead,  by  man  or 
woman  made  to  God  advisedly,  ought  to  be  observed,  by  the  law  of  God  ; 
and  that  it  exempteth  them  from  other  liberties  of  Christian  people, 
which,  without  that,  they  might  enjoy. 

Fifthly,  That  it  is  meet  and  necessary  that  private  masses  be  continued 
and  admitted  in  the  king's  English  church  and  congregation,  as  whereby 
good  Christian  people,  ordering  themselves  accordingly,  doe  receive 
both  godly  and  goodly  consolations  and  benefits :  and  it  is  agreeable  also 
to  God's  law. 

Sixthly,  That  auricular  confession  is  expedient  and  necessary  to  be 
retained  and  continued,  used  and  frequented,  in  the  church  of  God. 

V.  For  the  which  godly  study,  pain,  and  travel  of  his  majesty,  and 
determination  and  resolution  of  the  premises,  his  humble  and  obedient 
subjects,  the  lords  spiritual  and   temporal,  and  the  commons  in  this 


APPENDIX.  445 

present  parliament  assembled,  not  only  render  and  give  unto  his  highness 
their  most  high  and  hearty  thanks,  and  think  themselves  most  bound  to 
pray  for  the  long  continuance  of  his  grace's  most  royal  estate,  but  also, 
being  desirous  that  his  most  godly  enterprise  may  be  well  accomplished, 
and  brought  to  a  full  end  and  perfection,  and  so  established,  that  the 
same  might  be  to  the  honour  of  God,  and  after,  to  the  common  quiet, 
unity,  and  concord,  to  be  had  in  the  whole  body  of  this  realm  for  ever, 
do  most  humbly  beseech  his  royal  majesty,  that  the  resolution  and 
determination  above  written  of  the  said  articles  may  be  established  and 
perpetually  perfected,  by  authority  of  this  present  parliament. 

It  is  therefore  ordained  and  enacted,  by  the  king  our  soveraign  lord, 
the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  the  commons  in  this  present  par 
liament  assembled,  and  by  authority  of  the  same,  that  if  any  person  or 
persons  within  this  realm  of  England,  or  any  other  the  king's  dominions, 
after  the  twelfth  day  of  July  next  coming,  by  word,  writing,  imprinting, 
ciphering,  or  in  any  other  wise,  do  publish,  preach,  teach,  say,  affirm, 
declare,  dispute,  argue,  or  hold  any  opinion,  that,  in  the  blessed  sacra 
ment  of  the  altar,  under  the  form  of  bread  and  wine  (after  the  consecra 
tion  thereof),  there  is  riot  present  really  the  natural  body  and  blood 
of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  conceived  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  that, 
after  the  said  consecration,  there  remaineth  any  substance  of  bread  or 
wine,  or  any  other  substance  but  the  substance  of  Christ,  God  and  Man; 
or,  after  the  time  abovesaid,  publish,  preach,  teach,  say,  affirm,  declare, 
dispute,  argue,  or  hold  opinion,  that  in  the  flesh,  under  the  form  of 
bread,  is  not  the  very  blood  of  Christ,  or  that  with  the  blood,  under  the 
form  of  wine,  is  not  the  very  flesh  of  Christ,  as  well  apart  as  though 
they  were  both  together ;  or,  by  any  the  means  abovesaid,  or  otherwise, 
preach,  teach,  declare,  or  affirm  the  said  sacrament  to  be  of  other  sub 
stance  than  is  abovesaid,  or  by  any  means  contemn,  deprave,  or  despise 
the  said  blessed  sacrament ;  that  then  every  such  person  and  persons  so 
offending,  their  aiders,  comforters,  counsellors,  consentors,  and  abettors 
therein,  being  thereof  convicted,  in  form  underwritten,  by  the  authority 
abovesaid,  shall  be  deemed  and  adjudged  hereticks  :  and  that  every  such 
offence  shall  be  judged  manifest  heresy  :  And  that  every  such  offender 
and  offenders  shall  therefore  have  and  suffer  judgment,  execution,  pain, 
and  pains  of  death,  by  way  of  burning,  without  any  abjuration,  clergy, 
or  sanctuary,  to  be  therefore  permitted,  had,  allowed,  admitted,  or  suffered : 
And  also  shall  therefore  forfeit  and  lose  to  the  king's  highness,  his  heirs 
and  successors,  all  his  or  their  honours,  manors,  castles,  lands,  tenements, 
rents,  reversions,  services,  possessions,  and  all  other  his  or  their  heredita 
ments,  goods  and  chattels,  farms  and  freeholds,  whatsoever  they  be,  which 
any  such  offender  or  offenders  shall  have,  at  the  time  of  any  such  offence 


446  APPENDIX. 

or  offences,  committed  or  done,  or  at  any  time  after,  as  in  cases  of  high 
treason. 

VI.  And  furthermore  be  it  enacted,  by  the  authority  of  this  present 
parliament,  that,  if  any  person  or  persons,  after  the  said  twelfth  day  of 
July,  preach  in  any  sermon  or  collation,  openly  made  to  the  king's 
people,  or  teach  in  any  common  school,  or  to  other  congregation  of 
people,  or,  being  called  before  such  judges,  and  according  to  such  form 
of  the  law,  as  hereafter  shall  be  declared,  do  obstinately  affirm,  uphold, 
maintain,  or  defend,  [that  the  communion  of  the  said  blessed  sacrament 
in  both  kinds,  that  is  to  say,  in  form  of  bread  and  also  of  wine,  is 
necessary,  for  the  health  of  man's  soul,  to  be  given  or  ministered,  or 
ought  or  should  be  given  or  ministered  to  any  person  in  both  kinds  ;  or 
that  it  is  necessary  to  be  received  or  taken  by  any  person  (other  than  by 
priests  being  at  mass,  and  consecrating  the  same) ;  or  that  any  man, 
after  the  order  of  priesthood  received,  as  aforesaid,  may  marry  or  may 
contract  matrimony ;  or  that  any  man  or  woman,  which  advisedly  hath 
vowed  or  professed,  or  should  vow  or  profess,  chastity  or  widowhood, 
may  marry,  or  may  contract  matrimony  ;  or  that  private  masses  be  not 
lawful,  or  not  laudable,  or  should  not  be  celebrated,  had,  nor  used  in 
this  realm,  nor  be  not  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  God ;  or  that  auricular 
confession  is  not  expedient  and  necessary  to  be  retained  and  continued, 
used  and  frequented,  in  the  church  of  God]  ;  or  if  any  priest,  after  the 
said  twelfth  day  of  July,  or  any  other  man  or  woman,  which  advisedly 
hath  vowed,  or,  after  the  said  day,  advisedly  do  vow,  chastity  or  widow 
hood,  do  actually  marry,  or  contract  matrimony  with  any  person, — That 
then,  all  and  every  person  and  persons,  so  preaching,  teaching,  obsti 
nately   affirming,   upholding,   maintaining,   or   defending,   or   making 
marriage,  or  contract  of  matrimony,  as  is  above  specified,  be  and  shall 
be,  by  authority  above  written,  deemed  and  judged  a  felon  and  felons: 
And  that  every  offender  in  the  same,  being  therefore  duly  convicted  or 
attainted,  by  the  laws  under  written,  shall  therefore  suffer  pains  of  death, 
as   in   cases  of  felony,  without  any  benefit  of  clergy,  or  privilege  of 
church  or  sanctuary,  to  him  or  her  to  be  allowed  in  that  behalf,  and  shall 
forfeit  all  his  or  her  lands  and  goods,  as  in  cases  of  felony  :  And  that  it 
be  lawful  to  the  patron  or  patrons  of  any  manner  of  benefice,  which  any 
such  offender,  at  the  time  of  his  said  conviction  or  attainder,  had,  to 
present  one  other  incumbent  thereunto,  as  if  the  same  person  so  con 
victed  or  attainted  had  been  bodily  deceased. 

VII.  Also  be  it  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that,  if  any  per 
son  or  persons,  after  the  said  twelfth  day  of  July,  by  word,  writing, 
printing,  ciphering,  or  otherwise  than  is  above  rehearsed,  publish,  declare, 
or  hold  opinion,  &c.  (as  between  the  brackets  in  the  preceding  para- 


APPENDIX.  447 

graph;}  every  person,  being  for  any  such  offence  duly  convicted  or 
attainted,  by  the  laws  underwritten,  shall  forfeit  and  lose  to  the  king, 
our  Soveraign  Lord,  all  his  goods  and  chattels  for  ever,  and  also  the 
profits  of  all  his  lands,  tenements,  annuities,  fees,  and  offices,  during  his 
life,  and  all  his  benefices,  and  spiritual  promotions  shall  be  utterly  void, 
and  also  shall  suffer  imprisonment  of  his  body,  at  the  will  and  pleasure 
of  our  said  Soveraign  Lord,  the  king.  And  if  any  such  person  or  per 
sons,  being  once  convict  of  any  the  offences  mentioned  in  this  Article, 
as  is  abovesaid,  do  afterward  eftsoons  offend  in  any  of  the  same,  and  be 
thereof  accused,  indicted,  or  presented,  and  convict  again,  by  authority 
of  the  laws  underwritten,  that  then  every  such  person  and  persons, 
so  being  twice  convict  and  attainted  of  the  said  offences,  or  of  any  of 
them,  shall  be  adjudged  a  felon  and  felons,  and  shall  suffer  judgment, 
execution,  and  pains  of  death,  loss  and  forfeiture  of  lands  and  goods,  as 
in  cases  of  felony,  without  any  privilege  of  clergy  or  sanctuary  to  be  in 
anywise  permitted,  admitted,  or  allowed,  in  that  behalf. 

VIII.  Be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  abovesaid,  that,  if  any 
person,  which  is  or  hath  been  a  priest,  before  this  present  Parliament, 
or  during  the  time  of  session  of  the  same,  hath  married  and  hath  made 
any  contract  of  matrimony  with  any  woman,  or  that  any  man  or  woman, 
which,  before  the  making  of  this  Act,  advisedly  hath  vowed  chastity  or 
widowhood,  before  this  present  Parliament,  or  during  the  session  of  the 
same,  hath  married  and  contracted  matrimony  with  any  person,  that 
then  every  such  marriage  and  contract  of  matrimony  shall  be  utterly  void 
and  of  none  effect :  and  that  the  ordinaries,  within  whose  diocese  or  juris 
dictions  the  person  or  persons,  so  married  or  contracted,  is  or  be  resident 
or  abiding,  shall,  from  time  to  time,  make  separation  and  divorces  of  the 
said  marriages  and  contracts. 

IX.  And  further  it  is  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  if  any 
man,  which  is  or  hath  been  priest,  as  is  aforesaid,  at  any  time,  from  or 
after  the  said  twelfth  day  of  July  next  coming,  do  carnally  keep  or  use 
any  woman,  to  whom  he  is  or  hath  been  married,  or  with  whom  he  hath 
contracted  matrimony,  or  openly  be  conversant,  keep  company  or  fami 
liarity  with  any  such  woman,  to  the  evil  example  of  other  persons,  every 
such  carnal  use,  copulation,  open  conversation,  keeping  of  company  and 
familiarity,  be  and  shall  be  deemed  and  adjudged  felony,  as  well  against 
the  man  as   the  woman  ;  and  that  every  such  person  so  offending  shall 
be  enquired  of,  tried,  punished,  suffer,  lose  and  forfeit  all  and  every  thing 
and  things,  as  other  felons  made  and  declared  by  this  Act,  and  as  in  case 
of  felony  as  is  aforesaid. 

X.  Be  it  also  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid  (not  giving 
advantage  or  detriment  to  any  Article  afore  rehearsed),  that,  if  any  man, 


448  APPENDIX. 

which  is  or  hath  been  priest,  or  hereafter  shall  be,  at  any  time  after  the 
said  twelfth  day  of  July,  do  carnally  use  and  accustome  any  woman,  or 
keep  her  as  his  concubine,  as  by  paying  for  her  board,  maintaining  her 
with  money,  array,  or  any  other  gifts  or  means,  to  the  evil  example  of 
other  persons,  that  then  every  such  offender,  being  thereof  duly  con 
victed  or  attainted  by  the  laws  mentioned  in  this  Act,  shall  forfeit  and 
lose  all  his  goods  and  chattels,  benefices,  prebends,  and  other  spiritual 
promotions  and  dignities,  and  also  shall  have  and  suffer  imprisonment 
of  his  body,  at  the  king's  will  and  pleasure  :  and  that  every  of  the  said 
benefices,  prebends,  and  other  promotions  and  dignities,  shall  be,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  utterly  void,  as  if  the  said  offender  had  resigned 
or  permuted  :  and  if  any  such  offender  or  offenders,  at  any  time  after 
the  said  conviction  or  attainder,  eftsoons  commit,  doe,  or  perpetrate  the 
said  offences,  or  any  of  them,  next  afore  rehearsed,  and  be  thereof 
duly  convicted  or  attainted  by  the  laws  aforesaid,  that  then  all  and  every 
such  offence  and  offences  shall  be  deemed  and  adjudged  felony,  and  the 
offender  and  offenders  therein  shall  suffer  paines  of  death,  and  lose  and 
forfeit  all  his  and  their  goods,  lands,  and  tenements,  as  in  cases  of  felony, 
without  having  any  benefit  of  clergy  or  sanctuary. 

XI.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  those 
women,  with  whom  all  and  singular  the  aforesaid  priests  shall,  in  any  of 
the  foresaid  ways,  have  to  doe  with,  or  carnally  know,  as  is  aforesaid, 
shall  have  like  punishment  as  the  priests. 

XIT.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  authority  abovesaid,  that,  if  any 
person  or  persons,  at  any  time  hereafter,  contemn,  or  contemptuously 
refuse,  deny,  or  abstain  to  be  confessed,  at  any  time  commonly  accus 
tomed  within  this  realm  and  church  of  England,  or  contemn,  or  con 
temptuously  refuse,  deny,  or  abstain  to  receive  the  holy  and  blessed 
sacrament  abovesaid,  at  the  time  commonly  used  and  accustomed  for 
the  same,  that  then  every  such  offender,  being  thereof  duly  convicted  or 
attainted  by  the  laws  underwritten,  shall  suffer  such  imprisonment,  and 
make  such  fine  and  ransome  to  the  king,  our  soveraign  lord,  and  his 
heirs,  as  by  his  highness,  or  by  his  or  their  council,  shall  be  ordered  and 
adjudged  in  that  behalf:  and  if  any  such  offender  or  offenders,  at  any 
time  or  times,  after  the  said  conviction  or  attainder  so  had,  doe  eftsoons 
contemn  or  contemptuously  refuse,  deny,  or  abstain  to  be  confessed,  or  to 
be  communicate,  in  manner  and  form  above  written,  and  be  thereof  duly 
convicted  or  attainted  by  the  laws  underwritten,  that  then  every  such 
offence  shall  be  deemed  and  adjudged  felony,  and  the  offender  or  offenders 
therein  shall  suffer  paines  of  death,  and  lose  and  forfeit  all  his  and  their 
goods,  lands,  and  tenements,  as  in  cases  of  felony. 

[  There  are  sixteen  other  clauses  in  this  act.     They  authorise  the  king 


APPENDIX.  449 

to  appoint  Commissioners  for  enforcing  its  provisions ,  empower  the  Com 
missioners  to  hear  and  decide  all  cases  connected  with  it,  and  command 
all  mayors,  sheriff's,  and  other  civil  officers  to  give  whatever  assistance 
those  Commissioners  may  require,  for  its  due  execution.  By  the  last 
clause,  the  words,  "advisedly  made  to  God,"  in  the  fourth  of  the  six 
Articles,  are  interpreted  to  apply  to  the  deliberate  vows  only  of  such 
persons,  as  at  the  date  of  the  vow,  shall  have  attained  the  full  age  of 
twenty-one  years. — T7.] 

No.  XL VIII.— (Referred  to  at  page  311.) 

Proclamation  for  a  Uniformity e  in  Religion.     An.  1539. 

[Cleop.  E.V.  303.] 

The  king's  most  royall  majestic  hath  been  enfourmed,  that  great  mur 
murs,  malice,  and  malignitie  is  rysen  and  sprong  amongs  dyvers  and 
sundrye  of  his  subjects,  by  dyversyties  of  opynions;  some  of  theym 
mynding  craftely,  by  their  preachinge  and  hearinge,  to  restore  into  this 
realme  the  olde  devotion  to  the  usurped  power  of  the  bisshop  of  Rome, 
the  ippocryte  religion,  superstitious  pilgrymage,  idollatry,  and  other  evell 
and  naughty  ceremonyes  and  dreames,  justly  and  lawfully  abolysshed 
and  taken  awey  by  authorytie  of  Goddes  worde,  and  to  allure  the  people 
agayne  to  the  same ;  and  some,  after  taking  and  gathering  divers  holy 
scriptures  to  contrary  censes  and  understanding,  doo  so  wreste  and  inter- 
pretate  and  so  untruely  alledge  the  same,  to  subverte  and  overtournne  as 
well  the  sacraments  of  holy  church,  as  the  power  and  authorytie  of 
prynces  and  magistrates,  and,  in  effecte,  generally  all  lawes  and  cominen 
justice,  and  the  good  and  laudable  ordennances  and  ceremonies  neces- 
sarye  and  convenient  to  be  used  and  contynued  in  this  realme,  which 
were  ordayned  for  the  encrease  and  edyfying  of  vertue  and  good  christen 
lyving :  some  of  theym  also  using  the  Scripture,  permytted  to  them  by 
the  king's  goodness  in  the  Inglisshe  tong,  "muche  contrary  to  hys 
hyghtnes  expectation  (for  his  majestes  entente  and  hope  was,  that  they, 
that  wolde  rede  the  scripture,  wolde,  with  mekenes  and  wyll  to  accom- 
plysse  the  effecte  of  it,  rede  it,  and  nott  to  mayntayne  erronius  oppinions 
and  preche,  nor  for  to  use  the  redying  or  prechying  off  it  in  undue  tymes 
and  pleasys,  and  after"1  suche  facions  and  fetes,  as  it  is  not  convenyent 
to  be  suffered)  ;  and  thus  eche  of  theym  dispute  so  arrogantly  agaynst 
the  other  of  ther  opynnions,  as  well  in  churches,  ale-houses,  tavernes, 
and  other  places  and  congregations,  that  there  is  begon  and  sprong 


1  [In  the  original,  the  words,  here  and  elsewhere  included  between  commas, 
are  inserted  as  an  interlineation,  in  the  handwriting  of  Henry  himself. — T.~\ 

VOL.  I.  G  G 


450  APPENDIX. 

amonge  themselves  slaunder  and  rayllyng  eche  at  other,  as  well  by  vvorde 
as  wryting,  oon  parte  of  theym  calling  the  other  papist,  the  other  parte 
calling  the  other  heretyk,  whereby  is  like  to  follow  dissention  and  tumult, 
"  not  wonly  to  theyre  aune  confusions  that  teche  and  use  the  same,  but 
also  to  the  disturbance  and  likely  wode  to  distruction  of  all  the  rest  off  the 
kyng's  true  and  welbelovyed  subjects,"  if  his  majestie,  like  a  godly  and 
catholyke  prynce,  of  his  excellent  goodness,  by  his  pryncely  power  and 
authorytie  gyven  hym  by  God,  sholde  not  polytykely,  in  the  begynnyng, 
provyd  for  the  same  :  For  remedye  whereof,  his  most  royall  majestie,  by 
his  most  excellent  wysdom,  knowing  and  considering  his  kyngely  office 
and  charge  touching  the  premisses,  and  daylly  paynfully  studying  and 
devysing  with  a  most  noble  and  earnest  harte  to  reduce  his  people, 
comytted  by  God  to  his  care,  to  unytie  of  opynion,  and  to  encrease  love 
and  charytie  amonge  theym  selfes,  and  constantly  to  confirm  theym  in 
the  same,  entendeth  (God  willing)  by  advyse  of  his  prelates  and  clergye, 
and  other  of  his  counsaill,  to  procede  to  a  full  order  and  resolucion,  to 
extincte  all  suche  dyversyties  of  opynnions,  by  "good  and  just"  lawes, 
to  be  made  for  the  same  by  authoritie  of  his  parliament.  And  yet  never 
theless,  nowe  in  the  begynning  of  his  parliament,  of  his  most  excellent 
and  vertuous  goodness,  myndeth,  by  a  proclamation  set  forthe  by  "  hys 
hyghtness  with"  the  advyce  of  his  counsaill,  "  accordyng  to  authoryte 
of  pallyament  allredy  to  hys  hightnes  successours  and  counsell  grantyd," 
to  exturpe  and  take  awey  some  occasions,  "  as  hereafter  foloyth,"  which 
have  moved  and  bred  divysion  amonge  sundry  of  his  subjectes.  And 
therefore,  by  authoryte  of  this  his  present  parliament,  straightly  chargeth 
and  comaundeth,  that  no  person  or  persons  shall,  from  hensforth,  slaun- 
derously  and  malyciously  name  or  call  eny  other  papist  nor  herityk, 
oonless  the  person  or  persons,  so  using  theym  selfes,  can  and  doo  law 
fully  and  justly  prove  the  same  to  be  true,  upon  payne  of  2.  And 
over  this,  his  majestie  straitly  chargeth  and  comaundeth,  that  no  person, 
excepte  suche  as  be  curates,  or  graduates  in  eny  of  the  universities  of 
Oxford  or  Cambridge,  or  such  as  be  or  shalbe  admytted  to  preach  by  the 
kynges  lycence,  or  by  his  vicegerent,  or  by  eny  bishop  of  the  realm, 
shall  teach  or  preach  the  bybill  or  new  testament,  nor  expounde  the 
misteries  thereof,  to  eny  other;  nor  that  eny  person  or  persons  shall 
openly  rede  the  bybill  or  new  testament  in  the  Inglisshe  tonge,  in  eny 
churches,  or  chapelles,  "  or  elsewher,"  with  eny  lowde  or  high  voyses, 
"  and  specially"  during  the  tyme  of  dyvyne  servyce,  or  of  celebrating 
and  saying  of  masses ;  but  vertuouslye  and  devoutlye  to  here  their 
dyvyne  servyce  and  masses,  and  use  that  tyme  in  reding  or  praying  with 

1  This  blank  is  in  the  original. 


APPENDIX.  451 

peace  and  scilens,  as  good  christen  men  ought  to  doo,  "  for  hys  aune 
erruditiori,"  upon  the  lyk  paynes  as  is  afore  rehersed.  Notwithstanding* 
his  highnes  is  pleased  and  contented,  that  such,  as  can  "  and  will"  rede 
in  the  Englisshe  tonge,  shall  and  may  quietly  and  reverently  rede  the 
bibill  and  newe  testament  by  theym  selves  "  secretly,"  at  all  tymes  and 
places  convenient  for  their  owne  instruction  and  edifycation,  to  encreas 
therby  godlynes  and  vertuous  lyving;  with  this  admonysment  never- 
theles,  that,  yf  they  happe  to  fynde  eny  dowte  of  eny  texte  or  sentence 
in  the  reding  therof,  to  be  ware,  and  take  hede  of  their  owne  presump- 
sious  and  arrogant  exposicions  of  the  letter,  but  to  resort  humbly  to  such 
as  be  lerned  in  holy  scripture,  for  their  instructions  in  that  behalf. 

Finally,  his  highnes  signifieth  to  all  and  singular  his  loving  and  obe- 
dyent  subjectes,  that  his  majestic  was,  nor  is,  compelled,  by  Code's  worde, 
to  set  forth  the  scripture  in  Inglisshe  to  his  laye  subjectes ;  but,  of  his 
own  liberalyte  and  goodness,  was  and  is  pleased  that  his  sayed  loving 
subjectes  sholde  have  and  rede  the  same,  in  convenient  places  and  tymes, 
to  the  oonly  intent  to  bring  theym  from  their  olde  ignoraunce  and 
blyndeness  to  vertuous  lyving  and  godlynes,  to  Gods  glory  and  honor, 
and  not  to  make  and  take  occasion  of  dissension  or  tumult,  by  reason  of 
the  same.  Wherefore  his  majestie  chargeth  and  commaundeth  all  his 
said  subjectes  to  use  the  holy  scripture  in  Englisshe,  according  to  his 
godlye  purpose,  and  gracious  intent,  as  they  wolde  avoyde  his  most  high 
displeasure  and  indignation,  besyde  the  paynes  above  remembred. 

No.  XLIX.—  (Referred  to  at  page  320.) 
King  Henry  VIIL's  Speech  in  Parliament,  towards  the  latter  end  of 

his  Reign. 

[Hall,  864.  Ed.  1809.] 

Although  my  chancellor,  for  the  time  being,  hath,  before  this  time, 
used,  very  eloquently  and  substantially,  to  make  answer  to  such  orations 
as  have  been  set  forth  in  this  high  court  of  parliament ;  yet  is  he  not  so 
able  to  open  and  set  forth  my  mind  and  meaning,  and  the  secrets  of  my 
heart,  in  so  plain  and  ample  manner,  as  I  myself  am,  and  can  do. 
Wherefore,  I  taking  upon  me  to  answer  your  eloquent  oration,  Master 
Speaker,  say,  that  where  you,  in  the  name  of  our  well  beloved  commons, 
have  both  praised  and  extolled  me  for  the  notable  qualities  that  you  have 
conceived  to  be  in  me,  I  most  heartily  thank  you  all,  that  you  have  put 
me  in  remembrance  of  my  duty,  which  is,  to  endeavour  myself  to  obtain, 
and  get  such  excellent  qualities,  and  necessary  virtues,  as  a  prince  or 
governor  should  or  ought  to  have ;  of  which  gifts  I  recognize  myself 
both  bare  and  barren.  But  for  such  small  qualities  as  God  hath  endowed 
me  withal,  I  render  to  his  goodness  my  most  humble  thanks,  intending, 

G  G  2 


452  APPENDIX. 

with  all  my  wit  and  diligence,  to  get  and  acquire  to  me  such  notable 
virtues,  and  princely  qualities,  as  you  have  alleged  to  be  incorporate  in 
my  person. 

These  thanks  for  your  loving  admonition,  and  good  counsel,  first  re 
membered,  I  eftsoons  thank  you  again,  because  that  you,  considering 
our  great  charges  (not  for  our  pleasure,  but  for  your  defence,  not  for  our 
gain,  but  to  our  great  cost),  which  we  have  lately  sustained,  as  well  in 
defence  against  our  and  your  enemies,  as  for  the  conquest  of  that  fortress, 
which  was  to  this  realm  most  displeasant  and  noisome,  and  shall  be,  by 
God's  grace,  hereafter  to  our  nation  most  profitable  and  pleasant,  have 
freely,  of  your  own  mind,  granted  to  us  a  certain  subsidy,  here  in  an  act 
specified,  which  verily  we  take  in  good  part,  regarding  more  your  kind 
ness  than  the  profit  thereof,  as  he  that  setteth  more  by  your  loving 
hearts,  than  by  your  substance.  Besides  this  hearty  kindness,  I  cannot 
a  little  rejoice,  when  I  consider  the  perfect  trust  and  sure  confidence 
which  you  have  put  in  me,  as  men  having  undoubted  hope  and  unfeigned 
belief  in  my  good  doings,  and  just  proceedings;  for  that  you,  without 
my  desire,  or  request,  have  committed  to  mine  order  and  disposition  all 
chantries,  colleges,  hospitals,  and  other  places  specified  in  a  certain  act; 
firmly  trusting,  that  I  will  order  them  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  profit 
of  our  commonwealth.  Surely,  if  I,  contrary  to  your  expectations,  should 
suffer  the  ministers  of  the  church  to  decay,  or  learning  (which  is  so 
great  a  jewel)  to  be  minished,  or  poor  and  miserable  people  to  be  un 
relieved,  you  might  say,  that  I,  being  put  in  so  special  a  trust  as  I  am 
in  this  case,  were  no  trusty  friend  to  you,  nor  charitable  man  to  mine 
even  Christian,  neither  a  lover  of  the  public  wealth,  nor  yet  one  that 
feared  God,  to  whom  account  must  be  rendered  of  all  our  doings. 
Doubt  not,  I  pray  you,  but  your  expectation  shall  be  served,  more  godly 
and  goodly  than  you  will  wish  or  desire,  as  hereafter  you  shall  plainly 
perceive. 

Now  sithence  I  find  such  kindness  on  your  part,  towards  me,  I  cannot 
choose  but  love  and  favour  you,  affirming,  that  no  prince  in  the  world 
more  favoureth  his  subjects,  than  I  do  you ;  nor  any  subjects  or  com 
mons  more  love  and  obey  their  sovereign  lord,  than  I  perceive  vou  do 
me,  for  whose  defence  my  treasure  shall  not  be  hidden,  nor,  if  necessity 
require,  shall  my  person  be  unadventured.  Yet,  although  I  with  you, 
and  you  with  me,  be  in  this  perfect  love  and  concord,  this  friendly  amity 
cannot  continue,  except  you,  my  lords  temporal,  and  you  my  lords 
spiritual,  and  you  my  loving  subjects,  study  and  take  pains  to  amend 
one  thing,  which  is  surely  amiss,  and  far  out  of  order,  to  the  which  I 
most  heartily  require  you ;  which  is,  that  charity  and  concord  is  not , 
among  you,  but  discord  and  dissension  beareth  rule,  in  every  place.  St, 


APPENDIX.  453 

Paul  saith  to  the  Corinthians,  in  the  thirteenth  chapter,  charity  is  gentle, 
charity  is  not  envious,  charity  is  not  proud,  and  so  forth,  in  the  said 
chapter.  Behold  then  what  love  and  charity  is  amongst  you,  when  the 
one  calleth  the  other  heretic  and  anabaptist,  and  he|  calleth  him  again, 
papist,  hypocrite,  and  pharisee.  Be  these  tokens  of  charity  amongst 
you  ?  Are  these  the  signs  of  fraternal  love  between  you  ?  No,  no.  I 
assure  you,  that  this  lack  of  charity  amongst  yourselves  will  be  the  hind 
rance  and  assuaging  of  the  fervent  love  between  us,  as  I  said  before,  ex 
cept  this  wound  be  salved,  and  clearly  made  whole.  I  must  needs  judge 
the  fault  and  occasion  of  this  discord  to  be  partly  by  the  negligence  of 
you,  the  fathers,  and  preachers  of  the  spirituality.  For,  if  I  know  a  man 
which  liveth  in  adultery,  I  must  judge  him  a  lecherous  and  carnal  person  • 
if  I  see  a  man  boast,  and  brag  himself,  I  cannot  but  deem  him  a  proud 
man.  I  see  and  hear  daily,  that  you  of  the  clergy  preach  one  against 
another,  teach,  one  contrary  to  another,  inveigh  one  against  another, 
without  charity  or  discretion.  Some  be  too  stiff  in  their  old  mumpsimus, 
other  be  too  busy  and  curious  in  their  new  sumpsimus.  Thus,  all  men 
almost  be  in  variety  and  discord,  and  few  or  none  do  preach,  truly  and 
sincerely,  the  word  of  God,  according  as  they  ought  to  do.  Shall  I  now 
judge  you  charitable  persons  doing  this?  No,  no;  I  cannot  so  do. 
Alas  !  how  can  the  poor  souls  live  in  concord,  when  you,  preachers,  sow 
amongst  them,  in  your  sermons,  debate  and  discord  ?  Of  you  they  look 
for  light,  and  you  bring  them  to  darkness.  Amend  these  crimes,  I  ex 
hort  you,  and  set  forth  God's  word,  both  by  true  preaching,  and  good 
example-giving,  or  else  I,  whom  God  hath  appointed  his  vicar,  and  high 
minister  here,  will  see  these  divisions  extinct,  and  these  enormities  cor 
rected,  according  to  my  very  duty,  or  else  I  am  an  unprofitable  servant, 
and  an  untrue  officer. 

Although  (as  I  say)  the  spiritual  men  be  in  some  fault  that  charity  is 
not  kept  amongst  you,  yet  you  of  the  temporality  be  not  clean  and  un 
spotted  of  malice  and  envy;  for  you  rail  on  bishops,  speak  slanderously 
of  priests,  and  rebuke  and  taunt  preachers  ;  both  contrary  to  good  order 
and  Christian  fraternity.  If  you  know  surely  that  a  bishop  or  preacher 
erreth,  or  teacheth  perverse  doctrine,  come  and  declare  it  to  some  of  our 
counsel,  or  to  us,  to  whom  is  committed,  by  God,  the  authority  to  reform 
and  order  such  causes  and  behaviours,  and  be  not  judges  yourselves  of 
your  own  fantastical  opinions,  and  vain  expositions  ;  for  in  such  high 
causes  you  may  lightly  err.  And,  although  you  be  permitted  to  read 
holy  scripture,  and  to  have  the  word  of  God  in  your  mother  tongue,  you 
must  understand,  that  it  is  licensed  you  so  to  do,  only  to  inform  your 
own  conscience,  and  to  instruct  your  children  and  family,  and  not  to  dis 
pute,  and  make  scripture  a  railing  and  a  taunting  stock  against  priests 


I 


454  APPENDIX. 

and  preachers,  as  many  light  persons  do.  I  am  very  sorry  to  know  and 
hear  how  unreverently  that  most  precious  jewel,  the  word  of  God,  is  dis 
puted,  rhymed,  sung,  and  jangled  in  every  alehouse  and  tavern,  contrary 
to  the  true  meaning  and  doctrine  of  the  same ;  and  yet  I  am  even  as 
much  sorry  that  the  readers  of  the  same  follow  it,  in  doing,  so  faintly  and 
coldly.  For  of  this  I  am  sure,  that  charity  was  never  so  faint  amongst 
you,  and  virtuous  and  godly  living  was  never  less  used,  nor  was  God 
himself,  amongst  Christians,  never  less  reverenced,  honoured,  or  served. 
Therefore,  as  I  said  before,  be  in  charity  one  with  another,  like  brother 
and  brother ;  love,  dread,  and  serve  God  (to  the  which  I,  as  your  supreme 
head,  and  sovereign  lord,  exhort  and  require  you) ;  and  then  I  doubt  not, 
but  that  love  and  league,  that  I  spoke  of  in  the  beginning,  shall  never  be 
dissolved,  nor  broken  between  us.  And,  as  touching  the  laws  which  be 
now  made  and  concluded,  I  exhort  you,  the  makers,  to  be  as  diligent  in 
putting  them  into  execution,  as  you  were  in  making  and  furthering  the 
same,  or  else  your  labour  shall  be  in  vain,  and  your  commonwealth 
nothing  relieved. 

(No.  L. — Referred  to  at  page  320.) 
Extract  from  the  Will  of  Henry  III.— Dec.  30th,  1546. 

[Rymer,  xv.  110.] 
Henry  R.— 

In  the  name  of  God,  and  of  the  glorious  and  blessed  virgin,  our 
lady  Sainct  Mary,  and  of  all  the  holy  company  of  heaven.  We,  Henry, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  England,  Fraimce,  and  Irelande,  Defen- 
deur  of  the  Faith,  and  in  erth,  ymediately  under  God,  the  supreme  Hed 
of  the  church  of  England  and  Ireland,  of  that  name  theight,  calling  to 
our  remembrance  the  great  gifts  and  benefits  of  Almighty  God,  given  to 
us  in  this  transitory  lief,  give  unto  him  our  moost  lowly  and  humble 
thanks,  knowledging  our  self  insufficient,  in  any  part,  to  deserve  or  re- 
compence  the  same,  but  fear  that  we  have  not  worthely  received  the 
same  : 

And  considering  further  also  with  our  self,  that  we  be,  as  all  mankind 
is,  mortal  and  borne  in  sinne,  believing  nevertheles,  and  hoping,  that 
every  christien  creature,  living  here  in  this  transitory  and  wretched 
woorld  under  God,  dying  in  stedfast  and  perfaict  faith,  endevoring  arid 
exercising  himself  to  execute,  in  his  lief-time,  if  he  have  leasur,  such  good 
dedes  and  charitable  workes  as  Scripture  commandeth,  and  as  may  be 
to  the  honour  and  pleasure  of  God,  is  ordeined  by  Christes  passion  to  be 
saved,  and  to  attein  eternell  lief  (of  which  nombre  we  verily  trust,  by 
his  grace,  to  be  oon),  and  that  every  creature,  the  more  high  that  he  is 
in  estate,  honour,  and  authorise  in  this  world,  the  more  he  is  bound  to 


APPENDIX.  455 

love  serve  and  thank  God,  and  the  more  diligently  to  endevour  himself 
to  do  good  and  charitable  workes,  to  the  lawde,  honour,  and  praise  of 
Almighty  God,  and  the  profit  of  his  sowle  : 

We  also,  calling  to  our  remembraunce  the  dignite,  estate,  honour, 
rule,  and  gouvernaunce,  that  Almighty  God  hath  called  us  unto  in  this 
world,  and  that  neither  we,  nor  any  other  creature  mortal,  knowith  the 
time,  place,  whenne,  ne  where,  it  shall  pleas  Almighty  God  to  call  him 
out  of  this  transitory  world,  willing  therefor  and  minding,  with  Godes 
grace,  before  our  passage  out  of  the  same,  to  dispose  and  ordre  our  lat 
ter  mind,  will,  and  testament,  in  that  sort  as  we  trust  it  shall  be  accept 
able  to  Almighty  God,  our  only  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  and  all  the  hole 
company  of  heaven,  and  the  due  satisfaction  of  all  godly  brethren  in 
erth,  have  therefore,  now  being  of  hole  and  perfaict  mind,  adhering  holy 
to  the  right  faith  of  Christ  and  his  doctrine,  repenting  also  our  old  and 
detestable  lief,  and  being  in  perfaict  will  and  mind,  by  his  grace,  never 
to  return  to  the  same,  nor  such  like,  and  minding,  by  Goddes  grace,  never 
to  very  therefro,  as  long  as  any  remembrance,  breth,  or  inward  know 
ledge  doth  or  may  remain  within  this  mortal  body,  most  humbly  and 
hartly  do  commend  and  bequeyth  our  soul  to  Almighty  God,  who,  in 
personne  of  the  Sonne,  redeamed  the  same  with  his  moost  precious  body 
and  blood,  in  time  of  his  passion,  and,  for  our  belter  remembrance  there 
of,  hath  left  here  with  us,  in  his  church  militant,  the  consecration  and 
administration  of  his  precious  body  and  blood,  to  our  no  little  consolation 
and  comfort,  if  we  as  thankfully  accept  the  same,  as  he  lovingly,  and 
undeserved  on  man's  behalf,  hath  ordeyned  it  for  our  only  benefite,  and 
not  his. 

Also  we  do  instantly  require  and  desire  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  his 
mother,  with  all  the  holy  company  of  heaven,  continually  to  pray  for  us 
and  with  us,  whiles  we  ly  ve  in  this  world,  and  in  the  time  of  passing  out 
of  the  same,  that  we  may  the  sooner  atteyn  everlasting  lief  after  ou 
departure  out  of  this  transitory  lief,  which  we  do  both  hope  and  clayme 
by  Christes  passion  and  woord  : 

And,  as  for  my  body,  which,  whenn  the  soul  is  departed,  shall  thenn 
remayn  but  as  a  cadaver,  and  so  return  to  the  vile  matter  it  was  made  of, 
wer  it  not  for  the  rowme  and  dignitiye  which  God  hath  called  us  unto, 
and  that  we  woold  not  be  noted  an  infringer  of  honest  worldly  policies 
and  custumes,  whenne  they  be  not  contrary  to  God's  laws,  we  woold  be 
content  to  have  it  buryed  in  any  place  accustumed  for  Christian  folks, 
were  it  never  so  vile ;  for  it  is  but  ashes,  and  to  ashes  it  shall  again : 
Nevertheles,  bicause  we  woold  be  lothe,  in  the  reputation  of  the  people, 
to  do  injury  to  the  dignite  which  we  unworthely  are  callid  unto,  we  are 
content,  and  also,  by  these  presentes,  our  last  will  and  testament,  do  will 


456  APPENDIX. 

and  ordeyn,  that  our  body  be  buried  and  enterred  in  the  quere  of  our 
college  of  Windesour,  midway  betwen  the  stattes  and  the  high  aultar;and 
there  to  be  made  and  set,  assone  as  conveniently  may  be  doon  after  our 
deceasse,  by  our  executors,  at  our  costs  and  charges,  if  it  be  not  done  by 
us  in  our  lief-time,  an  honorable  tombe  for  our  bones  to  rest  in,  which  is 
well  onward,  and  almost  made  therfor  alredy,  with  a  fayre  grate  about 
it ;  in  which  we  will  also  that  the  bones  and  body  of  our  true  and  loving 
wief,  quene  Jane,  be  put  also,  and  that  there  be  provided,  ordeyned, 
made,  and  set,  at  the  costes  and  charges  of  us,  or  of  our  executours  if  it 
be  not  done  in  our  lyf,  a  convenient  aulter,  honourably  prepared  and 
apparailled  with  all  maner  of  thinges  requisite  and  necessary  for  dayly 

masses,  there  to  be  sayd  perpetuelly  while  the  woorld  shall  endure 

And  also  we  will  and  specially  desyre  and  requyre,  that  where  and  when 
soever  it  shall  pleas  God  to  call  us  out  of  this  woorld  transitory  to  his 
infinite  mercy  and  grace,  be  it  beyonde  the  see,  or  in  any  other  place, 
without  our  realme  of  England,  or  within  the  same,  that  our  executors, 
assone  as  conveniently  they  may,  shall  cause  all  divine  service,  accus- 
tumed  for  dead  folk,  to  be  celebrate  for  us,  in  the  nixt  and  moost  propire 
place  where  it  shall  fortune  us  to  depart  out  of  this  transitory  lief:  And 
over  that,  we  will,  that,  whensoever  or  wheresoever  it  shall  pleas  God  to 
call  us  out  of  this  transitory  lief,  &c.,  that  our  executors,  in  as  goodly, 
brief,  and  convenient  hast  as  they  reasonably  canne  or  may,  ordeyn, 
prepare,  and  cause  our  body  to  be  removed,  conveyed,  and  brought  into 
the  said  college  of  Windesour  (and  the  service  of  Placebo  and  Dirige, 
with  a  sermon  and  masse  on  the  morrowe,  at  our  costes  and  charges, 
devoutly  to  be  don,  observed,  and  solemnly  kept),  there  to  be  buryed 
and  enterred  in  the  place  appoincted  for  our  said  tombe  to  be  made  for 
the  same  entent ;  and  all  this  to  be  doon  in  as  devout  wise,  as  cann  or 
may  be  doon :  And  we  will  and  charge  our  executors,  that  they  dispose 
and  gyve  in  almes  to  the  moost  poore  and  nedy  people  that  may  be 
found  (commyn  beggars  as  moch  as  may  be  avoyded),  in  as  short  space 
as  possibly  they  may  after  our  departure  out  of  this  transitory  lief,  one 
thousand  markes  of  laufull  money  of  England,  part  in  the  same  place 
and  thereaboutes,  where  it  shall  pleas  Almighty  God  to  call  us  to  his 
mercy,  part  by  the  way,  and  part  in  the  same  place  of  our  buriall,  after 
their  discretions,  and  to  move  the  poor  people,  that  shall  have  our  almez, 
to  pray  hartly  unto  God  for  remission  of  our  offenses,  and  the  wealth  of 
our  soull. 

Also  we  wool,  that,  with  as  convenient  spede  as  may  be  doon  after  our 
departure  out  of  this  world,  if  it  be  not  doon  in  our  liefe,  that  the  deane 
and  channons  of  our  free  chaple  of  Sainct  George,  within  our  castle  of 
Windesor,  shall  have  manoures,  landes,  tenementes,  and  spiritual  pro- 


APPENDIX.  457 

motions,  to  the  yerely  value  of  six  hundred  poundes  over  all  charges, 
made  sure  to  them,  to  them  and  their  successours  for  ever,  upon  these 
conditions  hereafter  ensuing : 

And  for  the  due  and  full  accomplishment  and  performaunce  of  all 
other  things  conteined  with  the  same,  in  the  forme  of  an  indenture  signed 
with  our  own  hand,  which  shall  be  passed  by  way  of  covenaunt  for  that 
purpose,  betwen  the  said  deane  and  cannons  and  our  executours,  if  it  pass 
not  between  us  and  the  said  dean  and  cannons  in  our  lief,  that  is  to  say, 
the  said  dean  and  cannons,  and  their  successours  for  ever,  shall  finde  two 
prestes,  to  say  masses  at  the  said  aulter,  to  be  made  where  we  have  before 
appointed  our  tomb  to  be  made  and  stand,  and  also,  after  our  deceasse, 
kepe  yerely  four  solempne  obites  for  us  within  the  said  college  of  Winde- 
sour,  and,  at  every  of  the  same  obite,  to  cause  a  solempne  sermon  to  be 
made;  and  also,  at  several  of  the  said  obites,  to  give  to  poore  people,  in 
almez,  tenne  poundes  :  And  also  to  give  for  ever  yerly  to  thirtene  poor 
men,  which  shall  be  called  Poore  Knightes,  to  every  of  them  twelf  pens 
every  daye,  and  ones  in  the  yere  yerely,  for  ever,  a  long  goune  of  white 
cloth,  with  the  Garter  upon  the  brest,  embrodered  with  a  sheld  and 
cross  of  Sainte  George  within  the  Garter,  and  a  mantel  of  red  cloth  ;  and 
to  such  one  of  the  said  thirtene  poor  knightes,  as  shall  be  appoincted  to 
be  Hed  and  Gouvernour  of  them,  in/,  vis.  vmd.  yerely  for  ever,  over 
and  besides  the  sayd  twelf  pennes  by  the  daye :  And  also  to  cause, 
every  Sonday  in  the  yere  for  ever,  a  sermon  to  be  made  for  ever,  at 
Windesour  aforsaid,  as  in  the  said  indenture  and  covenaunt  shal  be 
more  fully  and  particulerly  expressed ;  willing,  charging,  and  requiring 
our  son,  Prince  Edwarde,  all  our  executours  and  counsaillors  which  shal  be 
named  hereafter,  and  all  other  our  heirs  and  successours  which  shall 
be  kinges  of  this  realme,  as  they  will  aunswer  before  Almighty  God  at 
the  dredfull  day  of  judgment,  that  they  and  every  of  them  do  see  that 
the  said  indenture  and  assurance,  to  be  made  betwene  us  and  the  said 
dean  and  cannons,  or  betwen  them  and  our  executours,  and  all  thinges 
therin  conteined,  may  be  duly  put  in  execution,  and  observed  and  kept 
for  ever  perpetuelly,  according  to  this  our  last  will  and  testament. 
*  *  *•  *  * 

Henry  R. 

\_The  remainder  of  the  will  relates  only  to  the  entail  of  the  crown,  the 
appointment  of  executors  and  guardians  to  his  son,  and  the  distribution 
of  various  legacies  to  his  daughters,  his  widow,  and  his  servants. —  T7.] 


458 


APPENDIX. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS. 


No.  I. 

A  List  of  the  Abbots,  Priors,  and  other  Superiors  of  the  Principal 

Religious  Houses  in  England,  from   the  foundation   to 

their  suppression.1 


Abbots  of  St.  Albans. 

Abbots  of  Westminster  be-  George  Flaccet 

700. 
Willegod 

fore  it  wasrefounded  by  Richard  Sudbury 
King  Edward  the  Con-  Edmund  Kirton 

Eadric 

fessor.     700.                    Thomas  Milling 

Ulsig 

Siluard                                John  Estney 

Ulnoth 

Ordbrutius                          John  Islip 

Eadfrith 

Alfwin                                 William  Benson 

Ulsin 

Alfgar                                 John  Feckenham. 

Alfric 

Aldymer 

Ealred 

Alfnod                                        Abbots  of  Bardney. 

Eadmar 

Alfric                                                    700. 

Leofric 

Wulsin                               St.  Ethelred 

Alfric  II. 

Alfwin                                 Deda 

Leofstan 

Wolnoth.                            Alduinus 

Fretheric 

Kinewinus 

Paul 

Abbots  of    Westminster,    Ralph 

Richard 

since  Edward  the  Con-    Ivo 

GeoiFrey 

fessor.                              John  de  Gant 

Ralph  Gubion 

1000.                  Walter 

Robert 

Edwin                                 John 

Simon 

Geoifry                                Ralph  de  Staynfeld 

Garin 

Vitalis                                 Robert 

John 

Gislebert                            Ralph  de  Rand 

William  Trumpington 

Herbert                               Peter 

John  II. 

Gervase  of  Blois                 Matthew 

Roger 

Laurence                             Adam  de  Asewardby 

John  of  Berkamsted 

Walter                                William  de  Ripton 

John  Marines 

William  Poffard                 Walter  be  Beningworth 

Hugh  Everisden 

Ralph  Papillon                   William  de  Hatton 

Richard  Wallingford 

William  Humes                 William  de  Torkesey 

Michael  Mentemore 

Richard  Barking                Peter  de  Barton 

Thomas  de  la  More 

Richard  Crokesley             Robert  de  Waynflet 

John  Moot 

Philip  Levesham                Richard  de  Gainsburgh 

William  Heyworth 

Richard  Ware                    Robert  de  Barow 

John  of  Whethamsted 

Walter  Wenlock                 Thomas  de  Stapulton 

John  Stoke 

Richard  Kidington             Hugh  de  Braunston 

John  of  Whethamsted  II. 

William  Curlington           John  de  Haynton 

William  Alban 

Thomas  Henley                 John  Woxbrigg 

William  Wallingford 

Simon  Burcheston             Jeffry  Hemmingsby 

Thomas  Ramridge 
Thomas  Wolsey 

Simon  Langham                 John  Waynflete 
Nicholas  Litlington            Gilbert  Morton 

Robert  Cotton 

William  Colchester            Richard  Horncastle 

Richard  Stevenache. 

Richard  Harounden           William  Marlon. 

1  [I  have  omitted  Dodd's  catalogue  of  the  bishops ;  a  fuller  and  more  correct 
list  may  be  seen  at  the  end  of  Richardson's  Godwin. — 71] 


APPENDIX. 


459 


Abbesses  of  Shaftsbury. 

Conanus 

Tyldbrith 

900. 

Rethunus 

Almund 

Herleva 

Cinathus 

Credanus 

Cecilia 

Godeasculus 

Tinthferith 

Emma 

Ethelwold 

Etbrith 

Laurentia 

Osgarus 

Wlfard 

Margeria  Auchier 

Edwin 

Kynach 

Alice  Gibbs 

Wulgar 

Kynath 

Margeria  Twyneham 

Adelwin 

Aldbore 

Elizabeth  Thelford 

Siward 

Aldfert 

Elizabeth  Zouche. 

Ethelstan 

Cutulf 

Sperafoc 

Aldbald 

Abbots  of  Croyland. 
700. 

Rodolphus 
Ordricus 

Elferd 
Kynelm 

Kenulph 

Ealdred 

Ebba 

Patrick 

Athelm 

Edwin 

Siward 

Rainald 

O  sward 

Theodore 

Faricius 

Freodegar 

Godric 

Vincent 

Alfric 

Tukketul 

Ingulf 

Alfgar 

Egelric 

Walkelin 

Brithmar 

Egelric  II. 

Godfrey 

Agelwin 

Osketul 

Roger 

Alfware 

Godric  II. 

Alfred 

Mannius 

Brithmer 

Hugh 

Egelwin 

Wulgate 

Robert  de  Henreth 

Walter 

Wulketul 

Luke 

Robert 

Ingulphus 

John  de  Blosmevil 

Maurice 

Joffred 

William  de  Newbery 

Reginald 

Walden 

Henry  de  Fryeleford 

William  de  Andeville 

Godfrey 
Edward 

Richard  de  Henred 
Nicholas  de  Coleham 

Roger 
Adam 

Robert 

Richard  de  Clyne 

Roger  Norreys 

Henry 

John  de  Sutton 

Randolf 

Richard 

John  de  Canninges 

Thomas  de  Malabergh 

Thomas  Welle 

Robert  de  Garfor 

Richard  le  Grass 

Ralph  Merch 

William  de  Comenore 

Thomas 

Richard 

Roger  de  Thame 

Henry 

Simon 

Peter  de  Hanney 

William  de  Wytechurch 

Henry 

Vincent  II. 

John  de  Brokenhampton 

Thomas 

Richard  de  Salford 

William  de  Chyryton 

John 

John  Dorset 

William  de  Bois 

Thomas 

Richard  Boxore 

John  de  Onbresleye 

Richard 

Thomas  Salford 

Roger  Zatton 

John  Litlington 

Ralph  Hamme 

Richard  de  Bromsgrove 

John  Wysbich 

William  Ashenden 

John  Wi  eke  wane 

Richard  Croyland 

John  Sante 

Richard  Pembroke 

Lambert  Fossdyk 

Thomas  Rowland 

Richard  Hawksbury 

Edmund  Thorp 

Alexander  Shotisbrook 

William  Upton 

Philip  Evererde 

Thomas  Rowland  II.  alias  John  Norton 

William  Gedyng 

Pentecoste. 

Thomas  Newbold 

Richard  Berkney 

Clement  Litchfield 

John  Welles. 

Abbots  of  JEvesham. 

Philip  Hawford. 

Abbots  of  Abingdon. 

(500. 
Hcanus 


700. 

St.  Egwin 
Athefwold 
Aklbath 


Abbesses  of  Glocester. 

600. 
Kyneburg 


460 


APPENDIX. 


Eadburg  Robert  Trionel 

Evah  Eudo 

Afterwards  the  secular  Robert  de  Redinges 

clergy    possessed  it    200  Richard 


years. 

Abbots  of  Glocester. 

1000. 
Edric 
Wolstan 
Serlo 
Peter 

William  Goadman 
Walter 
Lacy 

Gilbert  Foliot 
Hamelin 

Thomas  Carbonel 
Henry  Blond 
Thomas  Bredon 
Hen  17  Foliot 
Walter  St.  John 
John  de  Felda 
Reginald  de  Hamme 
John  Gag 
John  Thokey 
John  Wigmore 
Adam  de  Staunton 
Thomas  Horton 
John  Boyfield 
Walter  Throwcestre 
Hugh  de  Morton 
John  Morwent 
Reginald  Boulars 
Thomas  Seabroke 
Richard  Hanley 
William  Farley 
John  Malvern 
Thomas  Branch 
John  Newton 
William  Malvern 
William  Parker. 

Abbots  of  Ramsey. 

900. 
Aednoth 
Wulfius 
Withman 
Ethelstan 
Alfwin 
Ailsius 
Herbert 
Aldwin 
Bernard 
Reginald 
Walter 
William 


Hugh  Foliot 

Ranulfus 

William  Acolt 

Hugh  Sulgrave 

William 

John 

Simon 

Robert 

Richard 

Edmund 

Thomas  Botterinck 

John  Tychemarsh 

John  Crowland 

John  Stow 

William  Wyttlesey 

John  Wardboys 

John  Huingdon 

Henry  Stewkley 


Abbots  of  Tewksbury,  since 
it  was  refounded. 

1100. 
Giraldus 
Robert 
Benedict 
Roger 
Fromond 
Robert 
Alan 
Walter 
Hugh 
Bernard 
Peter 
Robert 

Thomas  de  Stokes 
Richard  de  Norton 
Thomas  Kemsey 
John  Cotes 
Thomas  de  Legh 
Thomas  Chesterton 
Thomas  Parker 


John  de  Wardeboys  alias  William  Bristow 
Laurence.  John  Abington 

John  de  Salis 
Abbots  of  St.  Mary's  near  John  Strensham 


York. 

1000. 

Stephen  Whitby 
Richard 
Godfrey 
Savaric 
Clement 

Robert  Harpham 
Robert  Longchamp 
William  Bondele 
Thomas  Waterhill 
Simon  Warwick 
Benedict  Melton 
John  Gillings 
Ailan  Nesse 
Thomas  de  Multon 
William  de  Marcys 
William  de  Bridford 
Thomas  Staynegrave 
Thomas  Pigot 
Thomas  Stoppford 
William  Dalton 
William  Wells 
Robert  Kirby 
John  Cottingham 
John  Rothe 
William  Siveyer 
Robert  Wanhop 
Edmund  Thornton 
Edmund  Whalley 


Richard  Cheltenham 
Henry  Beoly 
John  Walker 
Robert  Wakeman. 

Abbots  of  BatteL 

1000. 

Guasbertus 
Ralph 
Henry 
Gaufridus 
Ralph 
Warner 

Walter  de  Lucy 
Odo 

John  de  Duvra 
Hugh 
Richard 

Ralph  of  Coventry 
Reginald 
Henry  of  Alesford 
John  de  Tameto 
John  of  Watlington 
John  of  Northburn 
John  of  Penvense 
John  of  Retling 
Richard  de  Bello 
Hamo  of  Offington 
John  Lydbury 
William  Mersh 


Wm.  Dent  alias  Thorn  ton.  Thomas  Ludlow 


APPENDIX. 


461 


William  Waller 

Hugh 

John  Salbury 

Richard  Dartmouth 

Galfridus. 

Thomas  Compton 

John  Newton 

Richard  Clyve 

Richard  Tovy 

Abbots  of  Hyde. 

Thomas  Aston 

William  Westfield 

1100. 

John  Haleborn 

Laurence  Campion 

Osbertus 

John  Blake. 

John  Hammond. 

Hugh  de  Lens 

Salidus 

Abbots  of  Waltham,  since 

Abbots  of  Winchcomb. 

Thomas 

the  second  Foundation. 

900. 

John  Suthill 

1100. 

Germanus 

Walter  de  Aston 

Walter  de  Gaunt 

Godwin 

Roger  de  St.  Waleric 

Nicholas 

Godric 

William  de  Wigornia 

Richard 

Galandus 

Robert  de  Popham 

Henry 

Ralph 

Simon  de  Canninges 

Walter 

Girmund 

Jeffrey  de  Feringes 

Richard 

Godfrey 

William  de  Odiham 

Simon  de  Seham 

Robert 

Walter  de  Fifhide 

Adam  de  Witz 

Gervase 

Thomas  Peithy 

Richard  de  Hergas 

Henry 

John  Eynesham 

Reginald  de  Maidenheth 

Crispin 

John  Lattecombe 

Hugh 

Ralph 

John  London 

Robert  de  Elinton 

Robert 

Nicholas  Strode 

John  de  Badburgham 

Thomas 

Thomas  Bromele 

Richard  de  Hertford 

Henry  de  Tudington 

Henry  Bonville 

John 

John  Yanworth 

Thomas  Worcester 

Richard 

Walter  Wicwane 

John  Colybone 

Thomas  de  Wolmestry 

Thomas  Schirburn 

Thomas  Forte 

Nicholas  Morris 

Richard  Ydebury 

Richard  Hall 

William  Neel 

William  Shirburn 

John  Salcot. 

Michael 

Robert  Ippewell 

William  Harleston 

Walter  Winfortune 

Abbots  of  Cirencester. 

Walter 

William  Bradley 

1100. 

William  Hertford 

John  Cheltenham 

Serlo 

William 

William  Winchcombe 

Andrew 

John  Lucas 

John  Twyning 

Adam 

Thomas  Edwards 

Richard  Kedenninster 

Robert 

Gervase  Rose 

Richard  Monslow. 

Robert  II. 

Alan  Reed 

Richard 

John  Sharnebroke 

Abbots  of  Neivminster,  af-  Alexander  Neckham 

John  Malyn 

terwards    removed 

to  Walter 

Robert  Fuller. 

Hyde. 

Hugh  de  Bampton 

Roger  de  Rodmerton 

Abbots  of  Malmsbury. 

Abbots  of  Neivminster. 

Henry  de  Munden 

600. 

900. 

Henry  de  Hamptonel 

Maidulph 

Athelgerus 

Adam  Brokenburgy 

Aldelm 

Alsius 

Richard  de  Charleton 

Daniel 

Brithwoldus 

William  Hareward 

Aldelm  II. 

Brithmerus 

Ralph  de  Estcote 

Ethelard 

Alnothus 

William  de  Marteley 

Cuthbert 

Alwinus 

William  de  Dinton 

Elfric 

Alfnotus 

Nicholas  de  Amaney 

Athelwerd 

Alwinus  II. 

John  Lekhampton 

Kineward 

Wulfric 

William  Best 

Brichtelm 

Rualdus 

William  Wotton 

Britchwold 

Radulfus 

John  Taunton 

Edric 

Robert  de  Losinga 

William  George 

Wulsin 

462 


APPENDIX. 


Britchwold  II. 

Odo  de  Witlesey 

Elmer 

Egelward 

William  Clapton 

Elstan 

Edwin 

Reginald  de  Waternewton  Wulfric  II. 

Britchwold  III. 

William  Haddon 

Egelsin 

Brithric  . 

John  de  Deping 

Scotland 

Turald 

Nicholas  Islip 

Wvdo 

Warren  de  Lyra 

Thomas  Charwalton 

Hugh 

Godfrey  Gemeticensis 

Alan  Kirketon 

Hugh  de  Trotsclive 

Edulf 

John  Kirketon 

Sylvester 

John 

John  Ramsey 

Clarembald 

Peter 

William  Ryal 

Roger 

Gregory 

Thomas  Wysbech 

Alexander 

Robert 

William  Murcot 

Hugh  II. 

Osbert  Foliot 

Richard  Holbech 

Robert  de  Bello 

Nicholas 

Robert  Moulton 

Roger  of  Chichester 

Robert  de  Melun 

John 

Nicholas  Thorn 

Walter  Loring 

Robert  Blyth. 

Thomas  Fyndone 

John  Wallensis 

Ralph  Borne 

Jeffrey 

Abbots  of  St.  Augustin's  Thomas  Poncy 

William  de  Colern 

near  Canterbury. 

William  Drulegge 

William  de  Badminton 

600. 

John  Devepisse 

Adam  Attehok 

Peter 

Thomas  Colwell 

John  de  Tintern 

John 

Michael  Peckham 

Simon  de  Aumeney 

Ruffianus 

William  Welde 

Walter  Camme 

Graciosus 

Thomas  Hunden 

Thomas  de  Chelesworth 

Petronius 

Marcellus  Dandylyon 

William 

Nathaniel 

John  Hawkherst 

Robert  Persore 

Adrian 

George  Penseherst 

Thomas  Bristow 

Albinus 

James  Sevenoke 

John  Andover 

Nothbald 

William  Selling 

John  Aylee 

Aldhim 

John  Dunster 

Thomas  Olveston 

Jambert 

John  Dygon 

Robert  Frampton. 

Ethelnoth 

Thomas  Hampton 

Gutard 

John  Essex 

Abbots  of  Thorney. 

Cunred 

900. 

Wernod 

Abbots  of  Peterborough. 

Godemannus 

Diernod 

600. 

Leoffius 

Wynher 

Saxulfus 

Oswy 

Beamund 

Cuthbald 

Ethelstan 

Kynebert 

Egbald 

Lefwin 

Etans 

Pusa 

Siward 

Degmund 

Benna 

Fulcard 

Alfrid 

Celred 

Gunter 

Ceolbert 

Hedda 

Robert 

Beitan 

Adulphus 

Gilbert 

Athelwold 

Kenulphus 

Walter 

Tilbert 

Elsinus 

Herbert 

Eadred 

Arwin 

Walter  II. 

Alchmund 

Leofricus 

Salomon 

Guttulfe 

Brando 

Robert  11. 

Eadred  II. 

Turold 

Ralph 

Luling 

Godrick 

Robert  III. 

Beornelm 

Matthias 

Richard  de  Stanford 

Alfric 

Ernulphus 

David 

Elfnoth 

John  of  Salisbury 

Thomas  de  Castre 

Siric 

Henry  of  Anjou 

William  Yakesley 

Wulfric 

Martin  de  Vecti 

APPENDIX. 


463 


William  de  Waterville 

John  de  Canoune 

Hereferth 

Benedict 

William 

Elfric 

Andrew 

Walter  Standsted 

Styward 

Acharius 

William  Sprowton 

Aldhun 

Robert  de  Lindsey 

John  Stoke 

St.  Dunstan 

Alexander  de  Holdeugs 

Thomas  Barton 

Elsius 

Martin  de  Ramsey 

Thomas  Marshal 

Egelward 

Walter  of  St.  Edmund's 

John  Beche. 

Sigebar 

John  de  Caleto 

Berred 

William  Hotot 

Priors  of  Coventry. 

Brithwy 

Robert  de  Sutton 

1000. 

Egelward  II. 

Richard  of  London 

Leofwine 

Egelnoth 

William  of  Woodford 

Burwine 

Turstin 

Godfrey  of  Croyland 

Hervey 

Herlewin 

Adam  de  Boothby 

Leofstan 

Sigfrid 

Henry  de  Morcot 

Owyne 

Henry  of  Blois 

Robert  Ramsey 

Strenulph 

Robert 

Henry  de  Overton 

Richard 

Henry  de  Soliaco 

Nicholas 

Laurence 

Savaric 

William  Genge 

Moyses 

William  Pike 

John  Deeping 

Josbert 

William 

Richard  Ashton 

Jeffrey 

Robert  II. 

William  Ramsey 

Roger  Wooton 

Michael  of  Ambresbury 

Robert  Kirton 

William  Brithwelton 

Roger  Forde 

John  Chambers. 

Thomas  Pavy 

Robert  Pederton 

Henry  Leicester 

John  Tanton 

Abbots  of  Colchester. 

Henry  Jerreys 

John  Kent 

1100. 

William  Jerreys 

Godfrey  Fromond 

Hugh 

William  Dunstable 

Walter  Tanton 

Gilbert  de  Lungill 

William  Greensburgh 

Adam  Sudbury 

William  de  Scurri 

James  Horton 

John  Brainton 

Hugo  de  Haya 

Roger  Cotton 

Walter  Monington 

Gilbert  de  Wicham 

Richard  Crosby 

John  Chinnock 

Walter  Wallensis 

Richard  Nottingham 

Nicholas  Frome 

Osbert 

John  Sholteswell 

Walter  More 

Adam  de  Campes 

Thomas  Derham 

John  Sellwoode 

William  de  Wanda 

Richard  Shaw 

Richard  Beere 

William  de  Spaldwick 

William  Polesworth 

Richard  Whiting. 

Robert  de  Grimsted 

John  Webb 

John  de  Bruges 

Thomas  Weford 

Priors  of  Christ-Church 

Walter  de  Huntingfield 

Thomas  Camselle. 

in  Canterbury. 

William  de  Glemham 

1000. 

John  de  Wymondham 

Abbots  of  Glastonbury. 

Egelnoth 

Simon  de  Blyton 

700. 

Egelric 

Thomas  Moneron 

Berwald 

Godric 

Thomas  Stucklee 

Albert 

Henry 

Richard  de  Colne 

Ecfrid 

Ernulph 

John  de  Dedham 

Cengille 

Conrad 

William  de  Gyrton 

Cumbert 

Geoffrid 

Jeffrey  Story 

Tican 

Elmer 

John  Neylond 

Guban 

Jeremy 

John  de  Okeham 

Waldun 

Walter  Durdens 

William  Westborn 

Beadulf 

Walter  Parvus 

Robert 

Cuman 

Wibert 

Roger  Best 

Mucan 

Odo 

Robert  Grvton 

Guthlac 

Benedict 

William  de  Ardelle 

Elmund 

Herlewin 

464 


-APPENDIX. 


Alan 

Adam  de  Franham 

Abbots  of  St.  Werberg^s  in 

Honorius 

William  de  Basinge 

Chester. 

Roger  Norris 

William  de  Basinge  II. 

1000. 

Osbert 

Henry  Wodelock 

Richard 

Jeffrey 

Nicholas  de  Tarente 

Hugh 

John  Sittingbourn 

Richard  de  Enford 

William 

Roger  de  la  Lee 

Alexander  Heriard 

Ralph 

Nicholas  Sandwich 

John  Merlow 

Robert 

Roger  of  St.  Elphege 

William  Thudden 

Robert  II. 

Adam  Chillenden 

Hugh  Basing 

Robert  de  Hastings 

Thoimis  ^R-iii  QrcinGr 

Robert  Rudborn 

/^i 

Henry  Eastry 

Thomas  Nevil 

Hugh  II. 

Richard  Oxinden 

Thomas  Sherbourn 

William  Marmion 

Robert  Hothbrand 

William  Aulton 

Walter  de  Pinchbec 

Robert  Gillingham 

Richard  Marlburgh 

Roger  Frend 

Stephen  Mongeham 

Robert  Westgate 

Thomas  de  Capenhurst 

John  Finch 

Thomas  Hunton 

Simon  Whitchurch 

Thomas  Chillenden 

Thomas  Silksted 

Thomas  de  Lythelas 

John  Woodnesberg 

Henry  Brook 

Thomas 

William  Molash 

William  Basing. 

Thomas  Erdeley 

John  Salisbury 

John  Salyhal 

John  Elham 

Priors  of  Hertford. 

Simon  de  Ripley 

Thomas  Goldston 

1100. 

N.  Burchenshaw 

John  Oxne 

John 

Thomas  Marshal 

William  Petham 

Nigellus 

Thomas  Clerk 

William  Sellyng 

Thomas  Martel 

Thomas  Godwell. 

William  Hertford 

Abbots  of  Lindisfarn. 

William  Giles 

600. 

Priors  of  Winchester. 

John  Bensted 

Aidanus 

^900. 

William  Dixwell 

Finanus 

Brithnoth 

John  Collingworth 

Colman 

Brithwold 

Thomas  Hampton. 

Tuda 

Elfric 

Eata 

Wulfsig 

Abbots  of  Walden. 

St.  Cuthbert 

Simon 

1100. 

Erefrid. 

Godfrey 

William 

Geoffrey 

Reginald 

Priors  of  Durham. 

Geoffrey  II. 

Robert 

1000. 

Eustace 

Roger 

Aldwin 

Hugh 

Robert  II. 

Turgot 

Geoffrey  III. 

Richard 

Algar 

Ingulphus 

Roger  II. 

Roger 

Robert 

Absolom 

Laurence 

Robert  II. 

Thomas 

Absalom 

Walter 

John  Fening 

Thomas 

John 

William  Policy 

German 

Robert  III. 

Simon  de  Hatfield 

Bertram 

Roger 
Walter  II. 

John  de  Fyningham 
Peter  de  Hatfield 

William 
Ralph  Kerneck 

Andrew 

John  Penselow 

Thomas  de  Malsamby 

Walter  III. 

William  de  Ely 

Bertram  de  Middleton 

John  de  Chauce 

Thomas  Bennington 

Hugh  de  Derlington 

William  Tanton 

John  de  Horkesley 

Richard  de  Claxton 

Andrew  of  London 

John  Sabysforth 

Richard  de  Hotoun 

Ralph  Russel 

John  de  Thaxted 

H.  de  Luceby 

Valentine 

Robert  Barrington 

William  de  Tanfield 

John  de  Dureville 

William  More. 

Geoffrey  de  Burdon 

APPENDIX. 


465 


William  de  Contoun 
John  Fossor 
Robert  Benington 
John  de  Hemingburgh 
John  Wessington 
William  Ebchester 
John  Burnby 
Richard  Bell 
Robert  Ebchester 
John  Auldand 
Thomas  Castell 
Hugh  Whitehead. 

Abbesses  of  Ely. 

600. 

Etheldreda 
Sexburga 
Ermenilda 
Werburga. 

Abbots  of  Ely. 

900. 

Brithnoth 
Elsin 
Leofwyn 
Leofric 
Leoffin 
Wilfric 
Turstan 
Theodewin 
Simeon 
Richard 

Priors  of  Ely. 

1100. 
Vincent 
Henry 
William 
Tombert 
Alexander 
Solomon 
Richard 

Robert  Longfield 
John  Stratfeld 
Hugh 
Roger 

Geoffrey  Brigham 
Walter 

Robert  Leverington 
Henry  Bans 
John  Hemingston 
John  Shepred 
John  Saleman 
Robert  Orford 
William  Clare 
John  Fresingfield 
John  Crandene 
VOL.  I. 


Alan  Walsingham 
John  Bucton 
William  Walpole 
William  Powcher 
Edmund  Walsingham 
Peter  of  Ely 
William  Wells 
Henry  Peterborough 
Roger  Westminster 
Robert  Colevile 
William  Witlesey 
John  Cottingham 
Robert  Wellys. 

Abbots  of  Eynsham. 

900. 
Adam 
Nicholas 
William 
Richard 
Godfrey 
Robert 
Eustachius 
Robert  II. 
Adam 
Nicholas 
John  de  Dover 
Gilbert 

Alexander  de  Brakeley 
John  de  Oxford 
Thomas 
Adam  II. 

Thomas  de  Cheltenham 
John  de  Broughton 
Nicholas  de  Upton 
William  de  Sandford 
Jeffrey  de  Lamborn 
Thomas  de  Bradingstock 
Thomas  Oxinford 
John  Everington 
William  Walwin 
Miles  Salley 
Thomas  Chaundler 
Anthony  Kitchin. 

Abbots  of  Athelney. 

800. 
John 

Richard  de  Derham 
Andrew  de  Sacrofonte 
Osmond  de  Sowey 
Robert 

John  Pederton 
Robert  Hill 
John  George 
John  Willington 
Richard  de  Wroxhall 


John  Herte 
Robert  Hamlyn. 

Abbots  of  Bath. 

900. 
Elphege 
Stigand 
Alfsius. 

Priors  of  Bath. 

1100. 
Peter 
Walter 
Robert 
Thomas 
Walter  II. 
Thomas  II. 
Robert  de  Cloppcote 
Robert  de  Sutton 
Thomas  Christy 
Robert  II. 
John  de  Irford 
John 

John  Dunster 
John  Tellesford 
William  Southbroke 
Thomas  Lacock 
Richard 
John  Cantlowe 
William  Bird 
William  Halloway. 

Priors  of  Rochester. 

1000. 

Ordouvinus 
Arnulph 
Ralph 
Letard 
Brian 
Reginald 
Ernulfus 

William  Borstalle 
Sylvester 
Richard 
Alfred 

Osborn  of  Shippey 
Ralph  de  Ross 
Elias 
William 

Richard  de  Derente 
William  de  Hoo 
Alexander  de  Glanville 
Simon  Clyve 
John  Renham 
Thomas  Woldeham 
Thomas  Schulford 
John  Greenstreet 

H  H 


466 


APPENDIX. 


Hamo  de  Hethe 

Thomas  Musard 

John  Westerham 

Robert  Multon 

John  Speldherst 

William  Wenloke 

John  Sheppey 
Robert  de  Suthflete 

Thomas  Mildenham 
John  Weddsbury 

John  Hertleye 

William  Moor 

John  of  Shepey 

Henry  Holbech. 

William  Tunbrigg 

John 

Abbots  of  Sherborn. 

William  of  Wold 

1100. 

William  Bishop 

Thurstan 

William  Frysell 

Clement 

Walter  Philips. 

William  de  Sloke 

Robert 

Priors  of  Worcester. 

John  de  Sownde 

900. 

Hugh  de  Staplebridge 

Wynsin 

John 

JEthelstan 

Edward  Goude 

J^thelsin 

Robert  Brunning 

JEthelsin  II. 

John  Fryth 

Godwin 

John  Sander 

jEthelwin 

Bradford 

St.  Wulstan 

Peter  Rumesunne 

./Elfstan 

John  Myer 

jEgelred 

John  Barnstaple. 

Thomas- 

Nicholas 

Abbots  of  Pershore. 

Guarin 

900. 

Ralph 

Foldbrith 

David 

Britheage 

Osbert 

Alfric 

Ralph  de  Bedford 

Roger 

Senatus 

Edmund 

Peter 

Thurstan 

Randulph  of  Evesham 

Guido 

Sylvester  de  Evesham 

Reginald 

Simon 

Roger  II. 

William  Norman 

Simon 

William  of  Bedford 

Anselm 

Richard  Gundicote 

Simon  II. 

Thomas 

Gervase 

Richard  Dumbleton 

Elfric 

William  Cirencester 

Henry  de  Caldewell 

Richard  Feckenham 

William  de  Leye 

Philip  Aubin 

William  de  Hervingtori 

Simon  Wire 

Peter 

John  de  la  Wyke 

William  de  Newton 

Wolstan  Bransford 

John  Stone  well. 

Simon  le  Botiler 

Simon  Crompe 

Priors  of  Sn-elshall. 

John  de  Evesham 

1200. 

Walter  Legh 

Hugh 

John  Green 

Nicholas 

John  of  Malvern 

John 

John  Fordham 

Hugh  de  Dunstable 

Thomas  Ledbury 

Wina 

John  Hertlebury 

Nicholas  de  Hanslap 

Richard  de  Eya 
John  tie  Covesgrave* 
Roger 

Simon  de  London 
William  Waddon 
William  Fuller 
John  Medbom 
Hugh  Brekenock 
William  Malthy. 


Priors  of  LuJ[ 

1100. 
Malgerus 
William 
Ralph 
John 

William  II. 
Roger 

William  de  Brahels 
Ralph  de  Selveston 
William  de  Estenestoii' 
Adam  de  Herred 
John  de  Houton 
Peter  de  Shaldeston 
William  de  Brackley 
John  de  Westbury 
William  de  Skelton 
William  de  Holwoode 
John  Pyry 
John  Horwode 
John  Halls 
John  Pinchbeck 
William  Rogers 
Thomas  Rowland, 

Priors  of  Wallinqford. 

1100. 
John 
Simon 

Ralph  Warrington 
Jeffrey 
Thomas 
Gregory 
Germanus 

Stephen  de  Wittenham 
William  de  Huntington 
William  de  Heron 
William  de  Stenington 
William  de  Bingliam 
John  Stoke 
Henry  Halstead 
John  Wells 
William  Hardwick 
William  Rysborrow 
Anthony  Zouche 
John  Thornton 
John  Clare 


APPENDIX. 


467 


Priors  of  Wederdal.       Alice  Okeney 

1100.  Amice  Marcey 

Henry  de  Tutbuiy  Dyonisia  Bray 

Ralph  Margery  Bray 

Thomas  de  Wymundham  Joan  Lewkenor 


W- 

William  de  Tanfeld 
Thomas  Bothe 
Ralph  Hartley. 

Prioresses  of  Plnley. 

1100. 

Lucia  de  Sapy 
Helewisia  de  Langlegh 
Elizabeth  de  Lotrington 
Matilda  le  Bret 
Amicia  de  Hinton 
Alicia  Myntins 
Margaret  Wigston 

Abbesses  of  Burnham. 

1200. 

Margery  de  Eston 
Maud  de  Dorcester 
Margery  de  Louth 
Joan  Turner 
Margaret  Gibson 
Alice  Baldwin. 


Joan  Fullam 
Katharine  Braybroke 
Lucy  Atwood 
Joan  Viene 
Margaret  Blackwell 
Isabel  Wentworth 
Margaret  Bull 
Agnes  Clifford 
Katharine  Green 
Isabel  Hussey 
Isabel  Sackvile. 

Prioresses  of  Ivinyo,  or 
Meresley. 

1200. 

Matilda  de  Hocclive 
Isolda  de  Beauchamp 
Sibilla  de  Hampsted 
Elenor  Crosse 
Elenor  Symms 
Margaret  Hard  wick. 


Prioresses  of  Henwood. 

1200. 
Prioresses  of  Little  Mar-  Katharine  Boydin 


low. 
1200. 

Matildis  de  Anvers 
€ecilia 

Christiana  de  Witteners 
Felicia  de  Kenebel 
Gunnora 
Agnes  de  London 
Agnes  de  Civeden 
Juliana  de  Hampton 
Roesia  de  Weston 
Joan 

Elenor  Kirby 
Elenor  Bernard 
Margaret  Vernon. 


Margaret  le  Corzon 
Milisanda  de  Fokerham 
Johanna  de  Pickford 
Alienora  de  Stoke 
Joesia  Middlemore 
Jocosa  Middlemore 
Alice  Waringe 
Elizabeth  Pultney 
Alice  Hugford 
Johanna  Hugford 


Abbesses  of  Barking. 

600. 

St.  Ethelburg 
Hildeld 
Mary 
Prioresses  of  Clerkemvell,  Adelicia 


near  London. 

1100. 
Christina 
Ermegard 
Hawisia 
Eleonor 
Alesia 
Cecily 

Margery  Whatvilc 
Isabel 


Christiana  de  Valloniis 
Mabilia  de  Boseham 
Matilda 

Matilda  de  Leveland 
Isabella  de  Morton 
Isabella  de  Basyng 
Matildis  de  Grey 
Anne  de  Vere 
Alienora  de  Weston 
Isabella  de  Weston 


Matildis  de  Monteacuto 
Katharine  de  Sutton 
Sibilla  de  Felton 
Margaret  Swinford 
Katharine  de  la  Pole 
Elizabeth  Shouldham 
Elizabeth  Lexam 
Dorothy  Burleigh. 

Abbesses  of  Pollesworth, 

1100. 
Osanna 
Muriel 

Margery  de  Apleby 
Sarah  de  Mancestre 
Albreda  de  Camvilla 
Katharine  de  Apleby 
Erneburga  de  Hardreshull 
Matilda  de  Pipe 
Lettice  de  Hexstall 
Agnes  de  Somervile 
Matilda  Boltourt 
Katharine  de  Wyrlegh 
Benedicta  Prede 
Margaret  Ruskin 
Elizabeth  Bradfield 
Anne  Fitzherbert 
Alice  Fitzherbert. 

Prioresses  of  St.  Rade- 
(jundis. 
1100, 
Dera 

Amicia  Chamberlain 
Helena 

Mabilia  Martyn 
Alicia 

Eva  Westeneys 
Margaret  Claril 
Alicia  Pilet 
Isabella  Sudbury 
Margery  Harling 
Agnes  Sayntlow 
Joan  Lancaster 
Joan  Cambridge 
Joan  de  Fulbourn 

Abbesses  of  Godstow. 

1100. 
Editha 
Juliana 

Felicia  de  Bede 
Flandrina 
Emma  Bluet 
Isolda  de  Derharn 
Roysia  Oxney 
Mabilia  Wafre 


468 


APPENDIX. 


Alice  de  Gorges 

Hugh 

John  Ripley 

Matilda  de  Upton 

Imbert 

Margaret  Dine 

Henry  II. 

Abbots  of  Rewley. 

Matilda  Beauchamp 

Peter  III. 

1200. 

Agnes  Streitelegh 

Henry  Bonville 

Robert 

Margaret  Moutney 

William  de  Charitate 

Peter  de  Divione 

Elizabeth 

Peter  IV. 

Richard 

Agnes  de  Witham 

Richard  de  Denton 

Thomas  de  Kirkly 

Alice  de  Huntley 

Altelburgus 

Simon 

Katharine  Feld 

Thomas  Thetford 

Thomas 

Isabel  Brainters 

Robert 

Henry  Rytoner 

Margaret  Tewksbury 

Robert  Wharton. 

Nicholas  Austin 

Katharine  Buckley 

Abbots  of  Waverley* 

Abbots  of  Rieval. 

Priors  of  Wenlock. 

1100. 

1100. 

1000. 

John 

William 

Peter  de  Leia 
Josbertus 

Gilbert 
Henry 
Henry  de  Cicestria 

Maurice 
Sylvanus 
Roger 

Aymo 
John  Tubbe 
Henry  Bonville 
William  Brugge 

Christopher 
John  II. 
John  III. 
Adam 

Bernard 
William  II. 
Warin 
Elias 

Peter  Barry 
John  Stratton 
John  Shrewsbury 
John  Wenlock 
Richard  Singar 
Rowland  Gracewell 
John  Cressage. 

Adam  II. 
Walter  Giffard 
Ralph 
William  de  London 
William  de  Hungerford 
Hugh  de  Reubenorum 
Philip  de  Bedwinde 

Henry 
William  III. 
Roger  II. 
Adam     * 
Thomas 
William  Spencer 
Richard  Blyton 

Priors  of  Prittlewell, 

1  1  AA 

Robert 
John  IV. 

Priors  of  the  Holy  Tri 

William 

Simon  de  Waltham 
William  II. 
Nicholas  de  Cokefield 
Peter  de  Montellier 
Henry  de  Fautrariis 
Giles  de  Seduno 
Thomas  de  Shelmestrode 
William  de  Anmumaco 
James  de  Cusancica 
Guichard  de  Chentriaco 
Francis  de  Bangiaco 
John  Eston. 

Priors  of  Bermondsey. 

1000. 
Peter 
Herebran 
Peter  II. 
Walter 
Clarembald 
Henry 
Richard 
Josbert 


Abbots  of  Kirkstall. 

1100. 
Alexander 
Ralph  Hageth 
Lambert 
Turgsius 
Helias 

Ralph  of  Newcastle 
Walter 
Maurice 
Adam 

Hugh  Mikeley 
Simon 

William  Leeds 
Gilbert  de  Coteles& 
Henry  Karr 
Hugh  Grimston 
Joseph  Bridesal 
Roger  de  Leeds 
William  Grayson 
Thomas  Wymbersley 
Robert  Kelynbeck 
William  Stockdall 
William  Marshal 


near  Aldgate,  London. 

1100. 
Norman 
Ralph 
Stephen 
Peter  of  Cornwall 
Richard 
John  de  Totyng 
Gilbert 
Eustace 

William  Aiguel 
Stephen  of  Walton 
Ralph  of  Canterbury 
Richard  Wymbich 
Roger  Poly 
Thomas  Heryon 
Richard  de  Algate 
William  Rising 
Robert  Exeter 
William  Haradon 
Thomas  Pomray 
Thomas  Percy 
Richard  Charnock 
Thomas  Newton 
John  Bradwell 


APPENDIX. 


469 


Nicholas  Hancock 

Abbots  of  Dorchester. 

1100. 
Alured 

John  de  Warwick 
Walter  de  Burgo 
Ralph  de  Dundecote 
William  Rofford 
Alexander  de  Waltham 
John  de  Caversham 
John  de  Sutton 
Robert  Winchington 
Robert  Godstow 
John  Cliffton 
Alan  Butteson 
Thomas 
Roger 
John  Mersh 


Priors  of  St.  Frideswide's. 

1100. 

Guimundus 
Robert  de  Cricklade 
Philip 
John 

W 

Simon 

Helias 

E.  Scotus 

William  de  Glocester 

Robert  de  Weston 

John  de  Olney 

John  de  Lewkeneshover 

Robert  de  Ewelme 

Alexander  de  Sutton 

Robert  de  Torneston 

John  de  Littlemore 

Nicholas  de  Hungerford 


John  de  Wallingford 
Priors  of  St.  Mary  OveryJohn  Dodeford 


in  Southwark 

1100. 
Algodus 
A 1  gar  us 
Warm 
Gregory 
Ralph 
Richard 
Valerianus 
William  de  Oxonford 
Richard  de  St.  Mildrilda 
William  Fitzsamari 
Martin 

Robert  de  Osney 
Humphry 
Eustachius 
Stephen 
Alan 

William  Wallys 
Peter  Clegham 
Thomas  de  Southwark 
Robert  de  Welles 
John  de  Pecham 
Henry  Collingborne 
John  Kyngeston 
Robert  Weston 
Henry  Werkworth 
John  Bottisham 
Henry  de  Burton 
Richard  Brigges 
John  Receiver 
Robert  Michell 
Robert  Shouldham 
Bartholomew  Linsted. 


Thomas  Bradenell 
Richard  de  Oxenford 
Edmund  Andever 
Robert  Downham 
George  Norton 
Richard  Walker 
Thomas  Ware 
William  Chedyll 
John  Burton. 

Priors  of  Bycknacre. 

iioo. 

Ralph 
Andrew 

John  of  St.  Edmund 
Ralph  Dunham 
William  Wilburgham 
Alan  Berking 
Benedict  de  Rossen 
Robert  Blakenham 
Robert  de  Ramesden 
Matthias  Grafton 
Reginald  Theydon 
Ralph  Chishull 
William  Purle 
John  Thaxsted 
John  Gosfeld 
William  Winchester 
Edmund  Goding. 

Priors  of  Dunmoiv. 

1100. 
Brithricus 
Augustin 
Robert 
Ralph 


Durand 
William 
Thomas  Tanton 
John  Pateford 
Hugh  Stevenheith 
Edmund 
Geoffrey 
John  Codham 
Hugh  Poslington 
Richard  Wicham 
Stephen  Noble 
Robert  II. 
Richard  Wodehouse 
Richard  de  Plessis 
Nicholas  Elmdon 
John  Swasham 
John  Burham 
Richard  Glocester 
John  Newport 
John  Sutton 
John  Canon 
Roger  Bulcot 
John  Tills 
John  Blackmore 
Geoffrey  Shelter. 

Priors  of  Lees. 

1200. 
Simon 
Hugh 

Henry  of  London 
John  Colchester 
John  Green 
John  Pernell 
Henry  Trotter 
Richard  Vowell 
John  Meadow 
William  Barlow 

Abbots  of  St.  Osyttts. 

1100. 

William  Corboil 
Ralph 
David 
Richard 

Adam  de  Wickham 
John  Story 
John  Slomon 
John  Fowler 
John  Deeping 
John  Henningham 
John  C  in  toner 
John  Colchester 

Abbots  of  Osney, 

1 100. 
Radulphus 


470 


APPENDIX. 


Wigodus 

Priors  of  Thurqarton. 

John  II. 

Edward 

1100.  ' 

Stephen 

Hugh  de  Buckingham 

Henry 

Benedict 

Clement 

Adam 

Robert 

Richard  de  Gray 

John  Allystre 

William  II. 

John  Rading 

Elias 

Richard  de  Wartria 

John  Leech 

Gilbert 

John  de  Insula 

Adam  de  Berniers 

William 

Henry  de  Abreford 

Richard  de  Apletre 

Richard 

John  de  Insula  II. 

William  de  Suttou 

John  Berwick. 

Adam 

Roger  de  Coventre 

Richard  Wombull 

John  Bibery 

Priors  of  Norton. 

John  Hudresfeld 

John  de  Osney 

1100. 

William  Ash  ton 

John  de  Kydlington 
John  Bakeland 

Henry 
Ranulph 

Richard  Hirst 
Richard  Marsden 

William  Wendover 

Andrew 

Robert  Ferrer 

Thomas  Hokenorton 

Roger  de  Lincoln 

John  Walton 

John  de  Olton 

Abbots  of  St  Augustine  in 

Richard  Leycester 

John  de  Wenirham 

Bristol. 

William  Barton 

Thomas 

1100. 

John  Barton 

Richard 

Richard 

John  Cook 

Robert  Leftwigh 

Philip 

Robert  King 

Thomas  Burket 

John 

John  II. 

Priors  of  Lanthony. 

Priors  of  Kenelworth. 

David 

1100. 

'1100. 

William  de  Bradeston 

Ernisus 

Bernard 

William  Long 

Robert  de  Bethun 

Laurence 

Richard  de  Malmesbury 

Robert  de  Braci 

Robert 

John  de  Marina 

William  of  Wicomb 

Walter 

Hugh  Dodington 

Clement 

Sylvester 

James  Barry 

Roger  of  Norwich 

David 

Edmund  Knowle 

Geoffrey  of  Henlawe 

Robert  de  Esteley 

John  Snow 

Matthew 

Richard  de  Tynelesford 

Ralph  Aske 

Henry 

Robert  de  Salle 

William  Cook 

Godfrey 

Thomas  de  Warmyngton 

Henry  Shellingford 

John 

John  de  Peyto 

John  Cerne 

Everard 

Henry  de  Bradney 

John  Danbury 

Martin 

Thomas  de  Merstbn 

Walter  New  berry 

Roger  de  Godstre 

William  de  Brayles 

William  Hunt 

Walter 

Thomas  Kyderminster 

John  Newland 

John  de  Chandois 

Thomas  Holygreve 

John  Somerset 

Stephen 

John  Yardley 

William  Burton 

Philip 

Ralph  Maxfield 

Morgan  Williams 

David 

William  Wall 

Thomas  of  Glocester 

Simon  Jerys 

Abbesses  ofLacock. 

John  II. 

1200. 

Simon  Brockworth 

Priors  of  Nostel,  or  St. 

Ela 

Edward  St.  John 

Oswald's. 

Beatrix 

William  Cheriton 

1100. 

Alice 

William  of  Penbury 

Adulphus 

Juliana 

Thomas  Elinham 

Savavdus 

Agnes 

Henry  Dean 

Asketillus 

Margery  of  Glocester 

Edmund  Forest 

John 

Johanna  Muystefort 

Richard  Heinpsted. 

Ralph 

Johanna  de  Temys 

William 

APPENDIX. 


471 


Prioresses  of  Flixton. 

1200. 

Emma  de  Beholm 
Margery  de  Stonham 
Isabella  de  Weltham 
Margery  Ho  well 
Katharine  Herward 
Elizabeth  Moore 
Katharine  Pilley 
Maud  Pitcher 
Marione  Dalingho 
Cecilia  Creke 
Helen 

Margery  Artiss 
Isabella 
Alice  Wright 
Elizabeth  Wright 

Abbots  of  Croxton. 

1100. 

Ralph  de  Lincoln 
John 
Jeffrey 
Thomas 

William  de  Graham 
William  de  Brackley 


John  Arghum  William  de  Harwold 

Elias  Attercliff  Richard  de  Sarret 

Robert  Derby  Gilbert  de  Bowells 

Thomas  Grene  Ralph  Aston 

John  de  Trenge 
Priors  of  the  Dominicans  Robert 

in  Oxford.  John 

1200.  John  Berkhamsted 

Gilbert  de  Fraxineto         John  Maiden 
Josias 

Simon  de  Bonil 
Hugo  de  Musterby 
Oliver  Daynchurch 
Thomas 

Thomas  Everard 
Thomas  de  Westwell 
Thomas  Lucas 
Walter  Wynehale 

John  Abbots  of  Holmcoltran, 

John.Hopton  1100. 

Everard 
Rectors  of  the  Bon-homines  Gervase 

of  Ashridge.  Robert 

1200.  Everard  II. 

Richard  Watford  Gawin  Barrowdale 


Thomas  Waterhouse 

Abbots  of  Margan. 

1100. 
William 
Andrew 
Gilbert 
John 


No.  II. 

A  List  of  Persons  executed  in  Henry  VIIL's  Reign,  for  opposing 
the  Kings  Spiritual  Supremacy. 


1.  John  Bere,  Clergyman  20. 

2.  John  Davies,  Clergyman  21. 

3.  Thomas  Greenway,  Clergyman  22. 

4.  Walter  Persons,  Clergyman  23. 

5.  Thomas  Reading,  Clergyman  24. 

6.  Robert  Salt,  Clergyman 

7.  John  Hall,  Clergyman  25. 

8.  John  HoughtoD,  Carthusian  Prior  26. 

9.  Augustin    Webster,    Carthusian  27. 

Prior 

10.  Thomas,  alias  Robert,  Laurence,  28. 
Carthusian  Prior  29. 

11.  Richard      Reynolds,      Brigetin,  30. 

D.D.  31. 

12.  William  Exmew,  Carthusian 

13.  James  Warnet,  Carthusian 

14.  John  Rochester,  Carthusian  34. 

15.  Humphrey  Middlemore,  Carthu-  35. 

sian  36. 

16.  Sebastian  Newdigate,  Carthusian  37. 

17.  John  Fisher,  Bishop 

18.  Sir  Thomas   More,  Lord   Chan-  38. 

cellor  39. 

19.  Anthony    Brockbey,    Franciscan  40. 

Friar  41. 


John  Stone,  Augustin  Friar 
Two  Priests,  Augustin  Friars 
John  Forrest,  Franciscan,  D.D. 
John  Harries,  Clergyman 
Nicholas   Heath,  Cluny   Monk, 
Prior 

John  Rugg,  Clergyman 
Sir  Adrian  Fortescue 
Griffyth  Clark,  Vicar  of  Wands- 
worth 

N.  N.  Chaplain  to  Griffyth  Clark 
N.  N.  Servant  to  Gryffyth  Clark 
Father  Waire,  Franciscan 
Sir  Thomas  Dingley 
John  Travers,  Clergyman,  D.  D. 
Giles  Horn,  Gentleman 
William  Horn,  Carthusian 
William  Onyon,  Clergyman 
Roger  James,  Benedictin 
Hugh    Farringdou,     Benedictin 
Abbot 

Richard  Whiting,  Bened.  Abbot 
John  Thorn,  Benedictin 
John  Beach,  Abbot 
William  Peterson,  Clergyman 


472  APPENDIX. 

42.  William  Richardson,  Clergyman    53.  John  Risby,  Gentleman 

43.  Richard  Fetherstone,  Clergyman    54.  John  Ireland,  Clergyman 

D.  D.  55.  Thomas  Rych,  Yeoman 

44.  Thomas  Abel,  Clergyman,  D.  D.  56.  Thomas  Ashbj ,  Gentleman 

45.  Edward  Powel,  Clergyman,  D.D.  57.  German  Gardiner,  Clergyman 

46.  John,  alias  Edward,  Bird,  Gent.  58.  John  Lark,  Clergyman 

47.  Edmund,  or  Edward,  Bromholm,  59.  John  Singleton,  Clergyman 

Clergyman  60.  The  Abbot  of  Rivers 

48.  Gervase  Carrow,  Gent.  61.  Thomas  Cort,  Franciscan 

49.  Laurence  Cook,  Carthusian  62.  Robert  Hobbs,  Abbot  of  Wob urn 

50.  Clement  Philips,  Gent.  63.  The  Prior  of  Woburn 

51.  Sir  David  Genson  64.  The  Vicar  of  Puddington 
32.  A  Welsh  Gentleman  65.  Anthony  Browne,  Franciscan 

No.  III. 

A  List  of  Persons  executed  for  being  in  Confederacy  with 
Elizabeth  Barton. 

1 .  Elizabeth  Barton  4.  Hugh  Rich,  Franciscan 

2.  Edward  Boking,  Benedictin  5.  John  Risby,  Franciscan 

3.  Henry  Gold,  Clergyman  6.  Richard  Masters,  Clergyman 

No.  IV, 
Ji  List  of  Persons  executed  for  rising  in  defence  of  monastic  Lands. 

1.  William  Trafford,  Abbot  21.  William  Haddock,  Monk 

2.  Adam  Sudbury,  Abbot  22.  John  Paslew,  Abbot 

3.  Sir  Stephen  Hambleton  23.  Robert  Aske,  Esq. 

4.  Sir  John  Bulmar  24.  Sir  Francis  Bigot 

5.  Lady  Bulmar  25.  Sir  Robert  Constable 

6.  George  Ashby,  Monk  26.  Thomas  Lord  Darcy 

7.  Thomas  Mackerel,  D.D.  Prior        27.  John  Lord  Hussy 
8-12.  Five  Priests  28.  Sir  Thomas  Percy 

13-19.  Seven  Persons,  Laymen  29.  William  Thurst,  Abbot 

20.  John  Castgate,  Monk  30.  William  Wold,  Prior 

No.  V. 

A  List  of  Persons  executed  for  pretended  Plots  against  the  King,  fyc. 
mostly  on  Cardinal  Poles  account. 

1.  Henry    Courtney,  Marquis  of         5.  Nicholas  Collins,  Clergyman 

Exeter  6.  Mr.  Crofts,  Clergyman 

2.  Henry  Pool,  Lord  Montague  7.  Margaret,  Countess  of  Salisbury 

3.  Sir  Edward  Nevil  8.  James  Mallet,  Clergyman,  D.D. 

4.  Mr.  Holland,  Layman  9.  Henry  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey 

No.  VI. 

A  List  of  those  that  were  condemned  to  die  for  denying  the  King's 
spiritual  supremacy :  most  whereof  were  starved  in  prison. 

1.  William  Greenwood,  Carthusian         4-28.  Twenty  five  more  Carthusians 

2.  Thomas  Johnson,  Carthusian  29.  Thomas  Belchiam;  Franciscan 

3.  John  Scrivan,  Carthusian  30-61.  Thirty  two  Franciscans. 


END  OF  VOL.  I. 


CONTENTS 


ARTICLE  I. 

GENERAL  idea  of  the  State  of  the  English  church. — Under  the  Britons,  I. 
Under  the  Saxons,  23.  Under  the  Normans,  72.  Investitures,  85.  Oppo 
sition  to  papal  legates,  86.  King  Stephen  quarrels  with  the  bishops,  92. 
Thomas  Becket,  98.  Exemptions  of  Religious  Houses,  102.  Election  of 
bishops,  113.  Of  Reginald,  and  Langton,  ibid.  Complaints  against  papal 
abuses,  119.  The  king  writes  to  the  pope  on  the  subject,  120.  Statutes  of 
Mortmain,  128.  The  order  of  Knights  Templars  is  suppressed,  138.  Papal 
Provisions,  140.  They  are  abolished,  142.  Wycliffe,  147.  Controversy 
respecting  Papal  Provisions  renewed,  151.  And  terminated,  152.  Arch 
bishop  Arundel,  156. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Divorce  of  Queen  Catherine,  174.  Origin  of  that  event,  175.  Anne  Boleyn,  179. 
Consultation  of  Divines,  181.  Application  to  the  Pope,  182.  Campeggio 
and  Wolsey  commissioned  to  hear  the  cause,  ibid.  The  decretal  bull,  183. 
Attempts  to  influence  the  pope,  184.  Arrival  of  Campeggio,  185.  Henry's 
address  to  the  Nobles,  186.  The  legatine  court  is  opened,  189.  Its  proceed 
ings,  ibid.  The  commission  of  the  legates  is  revoked,  196.  The  King  is 
summoned  to  plead  his  cause  in  Rome,  ibid.  Breve  of  Inhibition,  ibid, 
Henry's  Expedients,  197.  Opinions  of  the  Universities,  198.  And  of  the 
Reformers,  202.  Lords  and  Commons  Address  the  Pope,  203.  His 
Answer,  204.  More  Expedients,  205.  Bennet's  Mission,  207.  Proceedings 
at  Rome,  208.  Mediation  of  France,  ibid.  Henry  marries  Anne  Boleyn, 
210.  Rise  and  Consecration  of  Cranmer,  211.  Who  pronounces  a  Divorce, 
215.  Clement  writes  to  Henry,  216.  And  annuls  the  Judgment  of  Cranmer, 
217.  Embassy  to  the  Pope  at  Marseilles,  218.  Henry  appeals  to  a  General 
Council,  ibid.  Definitive  Sentence  in  favour  of  Catherine,  219.  Henry's 
Proceedings,  222.  He  is  excommunicated,  224.  Abstract  of  the  reasoning 
of  the  two  Parties,  on  the  subject  of  the  Divorce,  225. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  Pope's  Supremacy  renounced,  232.  Preparatory  Measures,  ibid.  The 
Clergy  in  a  Pracmunire,  233.  They  compound  with  the  King,  234.  And 
acknowledge  a  qualified  Supremacy  in  the  Crown,  ibid.  Complaints  of  the 

VOL.  I.  II 


CONTENTS. 

Commons,  235.  Annates  abolished,  236.  Restraints  on  the  power  of  the 
convocation,  237.  Subscriptions  against  the  Papal  Supremacy,  240.  It  is 
abolished  by  Act  of  Parliament,  241.  Nature  of  the  King's  Supremacy,  243. 
Cromwell  Vicar  General,  246.  The  Bishops  compelled  to  sue  out  Commis 
sions  from  the  King,  247.  Supremacy  exercised  by  Henry  never  claimed  by 
his  predecessors,  249. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Monasteries  dissolved,  25 1 .  Monastic  Lands  a  temptation  to  the  avarice  of  the 
King,  ibid.  Complaints  against  the  Monks,  ibid.  Visitation  of  the  Religious 
Houses,  252.  Calumnies  against  the  Religious,  254.  "  The  Supplication  of 
Beggars,"  ibid.  Proceedings  of  the  Visitors,  255.  Dissolution  of  Lesser  Mo 
nasteries,  258.  Consequences  of  this  Measure,  262.  Insurrection  in  the 
North,  263.  It  is  suppressed,  266.  Henry  is  encouraged  to  proceed  to  fur 
ther  aggressions,  269.  Dissolution  of  the  Greater  Monasteries,  270.  Provi 
sion  for  the  Religious,  272.  Monastic  Lands  settled  on  the  King,  273. 
Collier's  account  of  the  injurious  effects  of  this  dissolution,  275.  To  the 
Nobility,  277.  To  the  Founders,  ibid.  To  Literature,  278.  Decay  of  the 
Universities,  280.  Opinions  of  Protestant  Writers  on  the  alienation  of  Mo 
nastic  Lands,  283.  New  Bishoprics  erected,  285.  Further  alienations  of 
Church  Property,  286.  Colleges,  Chantries,  and  Hospitals  given  to  the 
King,  287.  Reflections,  288. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Attempts  of  Reformers,  295.  Writings  of  Tyndal  and  others  condemned  by  the 
Convocation,  297.  The  Bishops  divided  into  Two  Parties,  299.  Articles  of 
Doctrine,  ibid.  "The  Institution  of  a  Christian  Man,"  301.  Injunctions 
published  by  Cranmer  and  Cromwell,  302.  Intrigues  with  Scotland  and 
France,  303.  Unsuccessful  attempt  to  form  a  Union  with  the  German 
Princes,  ibid.  King's  Marriage  with  Anne  of  Cleves,  304.  It  is  annulled, 
306.  Danger  of  Queen  Catherine  Parr,  ibid.  Attempts  of  Cranmer,  307. 
Statute  of  the  Six  Articles,  ibid.  Cranmer  accused  of  Heresy,  309.  He  is 
summoned  before  the  Privy  Council,  ibid.  But  is  saved  by  the  interference 
of  Henry,  ibid.  Proclamation  for  Uniformity  in  Religion,  310.  "  The  Eru 
dition  of  a  Christian  Man,"  312.  "  The  Book  of  Ceremonies,"  ibid. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Character  of  Henry,  311.  His  Accomplishments  and  Talents,  312.  Political 
Abilities,  314.  Morals,  316.  Religious  Principles,  317.  His  Death,  319. 
Last  Speech  in  Parliament,  ibid.  His  Will,  320.  Summary,  ibid. 


CONTENTS. 


APPENDIX. 


Page 

No.  I. — A  Letter  of  Complaint,  sent  by  the  Nobles  and  Commons  of 
England  to  Pope  Innocent  IV.  at  the  General  Council  of  Lyons, 
anno  1245          .  .  .  ,  .  .325 

No.  II.— Statutes  of  Mortmain         .  .  .  .  327 

No.  III.— Statutes  relating  to  the  Church,  temp.  Edw.  I.    -    .  .     328 

No  IV.— Stat.  9  Ed.  II.  Articuli  Cleri  .  .  .331 

No.  V. — Act  for  the  appropriation  of  the  Lands  of  the  suppressed  Order 

of  the  Knights  Templars  ....     332 

No.  VI.— Statute  of  Provisors,  25  Edw.  III.  .  .  335 

No  VII.— Statute  of  Pramunire,  27  Edw.  III.         .  .  .339 

No.  VIII.— Confirmation  of  the  Statute  of  Provisors,  25  Edw.  III.  340 

No.  IX.— Statute  of  Praemunire,  16  Ric.  II.  .  .  341 

No.  X. — Letter  from  Pope  Martin  V.  to  John,  Duke  of  Bedford,  com 
plaining  of  the  violence  lately  offered  to  the  Papal  Legate,  anno 
1429  ....  .344 

No.  XL— Stat.  2  Hen.  IV.  c.  15.  De  heretico  comburendo  .  345 

No.  XII. — The  oath  formerly  taken  by  Bishops  at  their  Consecration     345 
No.  XIIL— The  Bull  conferring  the  title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith"  on 

Henry  VIII.  .....  346 

No.  XIV.— Love-letters  from  Henry  VIII.  to  Anne  Boleyn     .  .     348 

No.  XV. — Bull  of  Dispensation,  permitting  Henry  to  contract  another 

marriage,  if  that  with  Catherine  were  annulled        .  .  357 

No.  XVI. — Papal  commission  to  Wolsey  to  hear  and  decide  the  cause  of 

the  Divorce        ......     359 

No.  XVII.— Three  letters  from  Wolsey,  concerning  the  Decretal  Bull        361 
No.  XVIII. — Bull  and  Breve  of  Dispensation  for  Henry's  marriage  with 

Catherine  of  Spain  .  ...  364 

No.  XIX. — Bull,  forbidding  Henry  to  proceed  to  a  second  marriage  until 

the  first  shall  have  been  judicially  and  properly  annulled  .     366 

No.  XX. — Decision  of  the  University  of  Oxford  on  the  question  of  the 

Divorce  .  .  .  .  .  .369 

No.  XXL — Anthony  Wood's  account  of  the  means  by  which  the  foregoing 

decision  was  obtained  ....  370 

No.  XXII. — Decision  of  the  University  of  Cambridge  on  the  same  subject    371 
No.  XXIII. — Decisions  of  the  French  Universities  on  the  same  subject    372 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

No.  XXIV. — Decision  of  the  Italian  Universities  on  the  same  subject  376 
No.  XXV. — Letter  from  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal,  and  certain 

Commons,  in  Parliament,  to  Pope  Clement  VII.  July  13,  1530  .  378 
No.  XXVI. — Pope  Clement's  answer  to  the  preceding.  Sept.  27,  1530  .  381 
No.  XXVII. — The  form  of  summoning  the  Convocation  .  .  384 

No.  XXVIIL— Despatch  from  Dr.  Ed.  Bennet  to  Henry  VIII.  Oct.  27, 

1530  .  .  .  -384 

No.  XXIX.— Bull  of  Inhibition,  forbidding  any  person  or  court,  other 

than  the  court  of  Rome,  to  pronounce  sentence  in  the  cause  of  the 

Divorce     ....  .         .     395 

No.  XXX.— Instructions  to  Dr.  Edw.  Bennet,  December  30, 1531 ;  with 

a  letter  from  Henry  VIII.  to  Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  Feb.  9, 

1532  ....  .398 

No.  XXXI.— Henry  VIII.  to  Dr.  Edw.  Foxe  and  Sir  Francis  Bryan,  July 

10,  1532  .....  401 

No.  XXXII.— Cranmer's  Protestation,  before  his  consecration  .  .  403 

No.  XXXIIL— Letter  from  Clement  VII.  to  the  king  .  404 

No.  XXXIV. — Definitive  Bull,  declaring  the  marriage  between  Henry 

and  Catherine  to  be  valid  ....  408 

No.  XXXV,— Oath  to  be  taken  to  the  issue  of  Henry  and  Anne  Boleyn  .  409 
No.  XXXVI.— Part  of  the  Bull  of  Excommunication,  published  against 

Henry,  in  1538  ...  410 

No.  XXXVII.— Extract  from  Instructions  to  Gardiner,  October,  1535  41 1 
No.  XXXVIII.— Decisions  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford  against  the  papal 

supremacy          .  .  .  .  .  .414 

No.  XXXIX.— The  oath  of  supremacy,  enjoined  by  Stat.  28  and  35 

Hen.  VIII.  .  .  .  .417 

No.  XL. — The  Supplication  of  Beggars  .  .  .  419 

No.  XLI. — Preamble  to  the  act  for  dissolving  the  lesser  monasteries  .  427 
No.  XLII. — Henry  VIII.  to  his  Ambassadors  at  the  Court  of  France, 

October  11,  1536  .  .  .  .  .428 

No.  XLIII. — The  oath  of  the  northern  insurgents,  anno  1536  .  430 

No.  XLIV. — Two  letters,  from  Henry  VIII.  and  Cromwell,  to  the  Am 
bassadors  in  France,  Nov.  5,  and  Dec.  24,  1536  .  .  430 
No.  XLV. — Signatures  of  the  members  of  the  Convocation  in  1536  434 
No.  XLVI. — Four  letters  from  Henry  and  Cromwell  to  the  Ambassadors 

in  France,  1535—1538  .  .  .  .  .435 

No.  XLVIL— The  Statute  of  the  Six  Articles  .  442 

No.  XLVIII. — Proclamation  for  Uniformity  in  Religion  .  .  449 

No.  XLIX. — Henry's  last  Speech  in  Parliament  .  .  451 

No.  L.— Extract  from  the  King's  Will  .  .  .  .454 

Supplementary  Papers  .  .  .  .458 


LONDON:  c.  KICHARDS,  PRINTER,  100,  SAINT  MARTIN'S  LANE,  CHARING  CROSS. 


6?. 


BR  756  .D6  1839 

v.l  SMC 

Dodd,  Charles, 

1672-1743. 
Dodd's  Church  history  of 

England. from  the 
AKD-7292  (awab) 


ft*